


Crossed Paths

by Mell0_Mell0



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Abusive Parent, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Child Abuse, Childhood Trauma, Half-Brothers, Hank is Dad Material, Homophobia, How Do I Tag, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mentions of Suicide, Other, Panic Attacks, Post-good ending, Self Harm, Shitty Father, Siblings, drugs and alcohol, everybody's crying, family dramas, i have no idea how trials work soz, if only the talked to each other instead of keeping their problems to themselves, manipulative parent, no beta we die like men, slow pining, the gayness comes really late
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-22
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-07-15 13:27:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 78,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16064087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mell0_Mell0/pseuds/Mell0_Mell0
Summary: The Revolution has finally ended and new laws for android's rights are being put in place. None of these new laws can protect Connor when he receives a prior notice for deactivation though.Gavin has been shitting his job for two weeks now, and being a great detective was the only thing that prevented him from being fired despite his awful personality. To prevent such thing to happen, Fowler give him a new partner who happens to make things worse.Elijah is taken aback when his father arrives in Detroit to try and get his hand on Cyberlife through an unfair trial.Or basically, three bombshells are dropped at the same time and everybody makes shitty choices to try to survive this.(Previously "Three Problems, One Solution")





	1. Prior Notice (Connor)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey ! So, that's my first finished fanfiction ever (how the heck did I do that ?) and so why not posting it um ?
> 
> I'm not a native english speaker so I am sorry if I repeat myself and if there are weird sentences in there. It's non-betaed because I don't have any fluent english speaking friend either (nightmare mode yeah)
> 
> I hope you won't get confused by the time line and the POV changes :')
> 
>  
> 
> Whatever, hope you'll enjoy it !

Considering how everything started, Connor couldn’t help but feel like it was a miracle the Revolution ended peacefully. There had been so much murders and fights and hate crimes, against androids as much as against humans, and at each time, everything looked like they would all have to live a full civil war. He was conscious his first actions in this Revolution had only help for a war to explode. Connor definitely considered himself to be lucky. He would never say it out loud, he wasn’t that self-centered, but from time to time, he felt like had he not deviated at the right time, he would have been one of the main reason a war would have happened.

At that time, he had not been fully conscious of everything that happened. At least, it felt like his sudden deviation had placed his emotions on the forefront for every decisions he made afterwards, and that resulted with everything happening too fast, everything being too blurry. It had felt like a dream. Connor had not remarked how strained he had been by the whole thing until laws started to appear to defend androids’ rights.

The Revolution ended a few weeks ago, and Connor was only starting to be conscious of a lot of things now. He was exploring carefully the range of emotions he was now feeling, he was exploring himself as a living being, and not a vulgar machine that could easily be replaced if broken. Up till now, he had experienced joy when he was hanging out with Hank, concern when the man was falling back into bad habits, stress and relief because of all the laws passing, disgust in front of a corpse at a crime scene. He knew he still had a whole range of emotions to explore yet. He didn’t know what fear felt like, or even despair, or anger. He didn’t want to experience them too soon, but he was still preparing himself for when it would happen.

Because it would happen, Connor wasn’t a fool. He just never expected it to happen that way.

Connor felt like he couldn’t breath, even though he didn’t need to. He felt like his limbs were chained and constricted by some invisible force, that something was weighing him down. He felt like a spiky crushing rock had been thrown in his chest and was tearing him apart from the inside. He felt like the whole world around him was spinning, and falling apart, and threatening to crumble. Connor had never felt that bad.

A endless stream of error messages was clouding his view, and he couldn’t discard them fast enough, as others appeared immediately right after, even more obtrusive, even redder, and everything was red, his LED, the error messages, the sound in his ears. Red red red. Only red.

He could feel his thirirum pump working too hard, and his cooling system whirring in his chest uneffectively. His whole body was overheating, but he felt cold all over. He could feel too much, everything, nothing, but he couldn’t register anything as his processing power was crumbling under alerts and flashes. He felt everything and nothing at the same time.

He didn’t have the courage, or even the thought of verifying his stress level, but even if he did, it wouldn’t have changed anything. He was far above the barrier between safe and disaster and if only his systems could have the reflex of shutting down and rebooting him, but nothing was happening, and it only made things worse, and worse, and worse.

Hank was yelling beside him, Connor knew it more than he heard it. He could barely see the man make wide gestures, his face red and distorted by wrath and rage, behind the wall of red clouding his vision.

He was afraid. Totally and utterly afraid. He hated that. He hated everything about that. He was scared, and afraid, and terrified, and Connor would know later that it wasn’t just that. Distraught and a sense of betrayal had managed to make their way to the hurricane of emotions that was haunting Connor.

He never expected Amanda to have lied to him like that, acting as if everything was alright when it apparently wasn’t, like he was making a good job when he was already deviating. He had trust her with all his might, even when he had started to turn away from her. He had trust her like a guardian, like… like a mother. Only to learn now that everything was a lie. Amanda never thought he would be able to accomplish his mission. She had been right all along, but… But it was human to believe, right ? Amanda never believed in him. And now he was seeing all of it.

He was seeing she had started to elaborate a plan B behind his back instead of trying harder with him. He was seeing how she had already started to replace him as soon as he had been activated. He was seeing how she created something new, stronger, faster, better, less likely to deviate. He was seeing the one she had created to replace him.

An RK900, brand new, perfect, robotic, standing straight with his hands behind his back, hair perfectly combed, a neutral expression on his face as he was facing the captain's desk.

That was him. He was replacing him. Even after the Revolution and the laws passed to ensure androids’ citizenships and their rights.

 

“That’s bullshit and you know it !!!” Hank suddenly yelled once more, and Connor didn’t know how he did it, but he suddenly could register what he was hearing and seeing. Hank had slapped his fists on Fowler’s desk, making some of the papers and random objects fall off of the desk. Fowler looked just as angry as Hank was, and Connor could see from the tension in his shoulder that Fowler was refraining himself from standing up as well to make his point go through Hank’s stubbornness. “So what, Connor doesn’t count as an android ?! He doesn’t have the same rights as others ?!! What the actual fuck Fowler !!!”

“Connor doesn’t have full citizenship because he is a prototype, and no laws have been passed to ensure his security !” Fowler yelled back, gesturing wild at Hank and Connor.

“He’s one of the fucking reason this whole shit of a Revolution didn’t end in blood and tears and you don’t even consider him as a living being because of a fucking law ?!!!”

“What he did or not doesn’t change the facts !! He is a prototype and as such, he is the property of Cyberlife !”

“He isn’t the goddamn property of anyone !!!”

 

Connor has never seen Hank so out of himself. He didn’t know what mysterious force was preventing Hank from launching on either Fowler or the RK900 standing at the other side of the office, but Connor was thankful for it. His fate was already sealed, he didn’t want Hank to be ejected out of the precinct because he had lashed out on either of them.

Connor was being replaced. He had a prior notice for his deactivation. In a month no more, he was to go back to Cyberlife to be put out of service, while the RK900 was beginning in the precinct today, that day, right away, like he wasn’t stealing his place. Like it was normal. And Connor couldn’t do anything about it. Because Fowler was right, no law was protecting him from being deactivated.

The RK900 seemed totally unphased. His expression hadn’t changed one bit, even when Hank had started to verbally lash out on him. His eyes had only moved slightly to focus on Hank, and when Hank had started to lash out on Fowler again, RK900 had come back to his initial pose. He hadn’t even so much as glanced at Connor since they were here.

He probably wasn’t a deviant. It certainly wasn’t alive.

Something new took place inside Connor’s chest alongside the betrayal, the distraught and the fear. Hate. Jealousy. Total and utter loathing for that android. Connor had never felt that. He didn’t want to be deactivated. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to leave Hank alone. He didn’t want that android to replace him, to take his place in that precinct, to wipe him off existence. He couldn’t help the way he was glaring at the RK900’s profile, at its calm glowing blue LED, at its unphased expression. He hated it. He wanted to kill it to prevent it of replacing him. He was mad at that face that looked so much like himself, but was so not him at all. Starting by those cold grey eyes.

Said eyes finally turned to look at him, and Connor despised it and wanted to tear it apart. It had ignored him for almost an hour, judging by Connor’s internal clock, and now it was finally deigning looking at him.

The wall of red obscuring Connor’s view came back, and the faint red light emitting from his temple, and red red red.

Connor suddenly turned and stormed out of the office, and the bullpen, and the precinct altogether. He had not said a thing in Fowler’s office, Hank being vocal enough for two. Now he needed to go somewhere else before he lashed out on someone. Or something.

He couldn’t believe his life would be ended only weeks after having started. He didn’t want to believe it. He didn’t want any of this to happen.

He didn’t want to die.

 

His internal clock told him his breakdown had only been forty minutes ago. He hadn’t register anything that had happen during that time. Everything had just felt too much, and he was in so much pain, and he couldn’t. He couldn’t. He had broken down, his systems still refusing to reboot him to help the stress, and the anger, and the fear, and the hatred, and everything to lighten.

Now Hank was holding him tight against his chest, faintly rocking back and forth, fingers making little circle in Connor’s neck, and sometimes going up to brush his scalp, while shushing little nothingness in his ear. Connor couldn’t move from the embrace, not that he wanted to. His stress levels had finally downed below 70%, and Hank’s shoulder was wet with tears and he probably will have bruises later because Connor was gripping tight, so tight that it probably hurt him. But he didn’t say anything about it. He just continued to soothe Connor, to comfort him, to calm him.

 

“It’s alright kid”, Hank was whispering for the a umpteenth time. “It’s alright. We’ll find something. We’ve got a month to figure that out. We’ll save you. I’ll save you.”

 

And Connor’s tears only increased. He wanted to believe in these lies so much. He wanted to believe them, but he couldn’t. His metaphorical heart was hurt too much for that. It was shattered into pieces and wiped away to some obscure corners. He couldn’t let himself believe another one who will end up replacing him anyway. He will be replaced by RK900 at the precinct, the same way Amanda had started to replace him.

Finally, he was still just a machine, right ?

 

“Goddammit Connor, listen to yourself !” Hank muttered, voice angry, but the bite wasn’t there. “You’re not a fucking machine, you’re Connor, and they’ll have to step over my dead body if they want you !”

“Please, don’t…”

“Connor-”

“Don’t…”

 

Hank released Connor from his embrace, but Connor didn’t let go. He actually clung ever more, and Hank will definitely bruise later.

 

“Connor, son, look at me.”

 

Connor only sunk his head deeper in Hank’s shoulder. He heard Hank sigh quietly above him, and two hands went to cup his face and tug him slightly, urging him to lift his face. Connor finally did as told and faced Hank.

He knew he was an utter mess. False tears were streaming down his face and he couldn’t stop them, and he couldn’t help the grimace that distorted his face, or the ugly sobs that broke through his speakers.

Now, he knew Hank was in the same state as he was. Hank was ugly crying too, red faced and tears streaming. It was affecting Hank too, and Connor only registered it now. Hank had grown accustomed to Connor’s presence. Hank was used to Connor being behind him more often than not. Hank was calling him son on a daily basis since the Revolution. Connor was Hank’s son.

And Hank had already lost one of them, all those years ago. Hank knew what losing someone was like. Hank had been a mess when Connor had first been introduced to him. Hank had been in such a horrible state after Cole’s death. Connor could only imagine in what state Hank would be if he came to lose another son. If he came to lose him.

And once more Connor broke down to cry. Hank hands’ began their soothing motions again, and their forehead touched lightly.

 

“I promise you son, nobody will touch you.”

 

Connor couldn’t help but believe Hank.

 

They made their way back to the precinct just before midday. Connor didn’t want to come back there, but Hank had convinced him to continue as if nothing had happened. Connor was a police officer, and one of the best, at that. Their duo had closed the most cases and had the best effectiveness since the end of the Revolution. Nobody could take that from them, and they didn’t need to give Cyberlife another excuse to deactivate Connor, not that they seemed to need one.

Considering how loud Hank had been this morning in Fowler’s office, and the way Connor had stormed out of the precinct, it was sure they would be the center of the attention for the day, at least. The word must have passed throughout the precinct now, and Hank had told Connor to ignore any pitying glance. They didn’t need that right now.

Connor was following Hank really close behind, almost shielding himself behind the man. Not that Hank complained, he seemed to take his role as his guardian really seriously, and he would probably make a hell of a day to anyone trying to approach his son. Connor couldn’t be more glad to have Hank right now.

But the scenario they imagined hadn’t been the one that greeted them. Instead, as soon as they stepped out of the elevator, they heard impressive yellings, about as angry and as loud as Hank had been moments before. The policemen in the bullpen were incredibly quiet, half of them making themselves as little as possible, trying to disappear from the scene they were forced to assist to. The other half had abandoned their works and was totally ogling at the yelling man shamelessly. Connor could also see Fowler in his office, looking absolutely done and only that far to actually fire the next person he would hear.

Detective Gavin Reed was making a scene in the middle of the bullpen, yelling, and screaming, and screeching mostly, agitating his arms wildly at the face of a coffee-soaked RK900 which was standing as straight as always, the exact same uninterested expression it was wearing back in Fowler’s office.

Hank and Connor stopped right in their track at the sight, blinking as Reed was shouting yet another imaged insult. Hank nudged one of the coworkers and asked her what the fuck was happening now.

 

“Well, guess who’ve just been partnered with the new giant toaster ?” she drawled.

 

Hank glanced at Connor, who glanced back at him. That did explain everything. Detective-Gavin-member-of-the-anti-android-league-fucking-no-impulse-control-Reed was being partnered with the almost exact copy of one of the people he hated the most. Connor wasn’t even surprised to see the RK900 had received the coffee shower too.

 

“Well, damn,” Hank whistled. “That promise some very agitated days.”

“Yeah, whatever,” the police woman grumbled, apparently incredibly pleased to have a new android at the precinct. Hank nudged Connor to their desks so they could start working, deciding to ignore Reed’s outburst that was still shaking the whole precinct.

“I can’t believe Fowler paired them together. The fuck is he thinking ?” Hank didn’t seem to know if he should laugh at the whole situation and at Reed’s luck, or if he should still be mad about the RK900’s appearance.

“Detective Reed’s results have collapsed dramatically since two weeks,” Connor answered dutifully, making his best to follow Hank’s order’s not to think about the prior notice and the deactivation for the moment. “I suppose he expects detective Reed’s results to be back to high level with the help of the RK900, the same way yours improved after being paired up with me.”

Hank made a face at being compared to Reed, which almost made Connor smirk. “Well, that’s just going to end up with one of them bloody dead.”

“I also think he is using the fact that detective Reed is on thin ice because of his results to force him to work with an android against his will.”

 

Hank finally snorted at that and turned back to see the files on his desk, as Connor did the same. Alright, looks like they had a new lead on the Red Ice case they were following.

 

 


	2. Trial (Elijah)

If Elijah was true to himself, he would say that he expected the Revolution to be a lot more bloody. Not that he had wanted it to be, or that he had wanted all those deaths and victims. But he had expected humans to be more stubborn. After all, they were the ones screaming for their precious pets to have more rights and to be more protected, but also denying same rights for all human because of their skin color or preference over a supposed God or else. Who could have think they would be so quick to give false humans rights ? Definitely not Elijah.

But he was fine with the whole thing. He was fine with everything that happened, and why wouldn’t he be ? It was not like he could change the past. Besides, his creations were free. What could he ask for more ? Not much, to be honest once more.

Elijah was fine with his current position, as an witness of the world and the changement. Elijah had been fine standing down and letting his androids take their life in hand. Elijah had been fine when he had been kicked from his own company. Elijah had been fine before. He had definitely been fine.

So yes, Elijah didn’t need much more but his recluse house, his good wine, his books and the last Chloe remaining. He was fine sipping his glass, sat on the ledge of his pool to watch Chloe make her lengths as she was talking about the last tv show she finished about ghosts and werewolves and vampires and hunters. He was fine. He was totally fine.

 

“Are you alright Elijah ? You have been spacing out a lot lately.”

 

Elijah offered a reassuring smile to Chloe, urging her to continue with the ghosts. While a bit reluctant, she resumed her explanation about how hunters would use salt to protect themselves against said ghosts, and how it was illogical. She swam towards Elijah, resting her face on crossed arms at the ledge of the pool to start tugging slightly at Elijah’s bathrobe. Once she will be out of the pool, Elijah would play with her hair for a while, trying and failing again to make her the pretty viking braid he saw once while getting lost on the internet. Everything would continue to be fine.

 

“Elijah…”

 

Chloe sighed and pushed herself out of the pool to settle down next to Elijah. She took his free hand between hers and started drawing patterns on his palms with her fingers.

 

“Are all those laws passing stressing you ? Is that why you are like that ?”

 

Elijah laughed and shook his head, sipping at his glass again as he started to draw patterns in Chloe’s hands too.

 

“Why would it stress me ? It’s going better than I thought ! Androids are free and continue to have more rights, Markus is doing an amazing job at politics, everything’s fine !” Yeah, everything’s fine.

“You aren’t fine Elijah.”

 

Elijah shook his head once more and emptied his wine. He got up, abandoning Chloe’s hands to go fetch more wine. He was fine. Why was Chloe bothering ?

 

“Would you let me braid your hair again today ?” he asked lightly, gesturing the couch to Chloe. She gave him a pointed look, but dropped the subject quickly. She probably understood that she couldn’t get anything out of Elijah right now. Humans were stubborn. Elijah wasn’t any better.

  


Elijah knew nothing was fine. It seemed like it, because of the whole after-Revolution situation, but it wasn’t. Because nothing was ever fine. It was a curse.

Elijah refused to step back into action. He was fine being an observator, being a witness. It was the truth, he didn’t need more. He definitely didn’t want to be rushed back into the whole mess that was politics, that was the jungle of company ownership. He only ever wanted to create more line codes, and more programs. He was tired fighting to keep what he was creating. That was why he had stepped down first. Because he was tired. Who knew what could happen if he didn’t start fighting again, though.

It were rumors, mostly. Elijah didn’t want to believe them at first. The post-Revolution situation was fragile, it was easy enough for ill willed groups to mess everything up and destroy every progress that has been built. It was easy to believe someone would use it for their own beliefs.

It was harder to believe who it was. Elijah knew it was bound to happen one day or another. He was a public figure, it wasn’t like he could have hidden his progress, and discoveries. He knew since forever he would have to confront him someday. He knew it. But he never acknowledged it. He had tried to ignore it, and to forget about that man, and about everything linked to him. He had tried to repulse the thoughts since the very beginning, and now he had to deal with the outcome.

But he was refusing to. 

That’s why he had refused to believe the rumors for a long time. Only to have everything shove back in his face now.

Chloe and him had been playing chess casually. Chloe had stopped insisting he was strange for a while now, only giving him pointed looks and slightly sad glances. Elijah didn’t want to talk about it. It was nothing Chloe needed to know. He had nothing to talk about anyway.

The doorbell had rang while it was his turn to play, so Chloe had gotten up to go see who was visiting without having inform them beforehand. She had came back five minutes later, a man following her. The man had looked like he was owning the world, chest puffed, knowing smirk on his lips, comely posture. Elijah’s face had fallen immediately at his sight, and he had frozen into place.

Elijah didn’t experience panic often. He was sometimes slightly put off when it came to talking in public, or having to attend to receptions. But he rarely panicked. He was now, though. He couldn’t feel his arms or his legs, but his heart was hammering hard in his ribcage and he could feel it in his throat. He wanted to throw up. His ears were ringing and his eyes wouldn’t focus.

Chloe put a calming hand on his back immediately and started soothing movements. He glanced up at her, and she shared a look of honest concern. When he looked back at the man, he could see his internal problems had not shown on the outside, and the man was still looking at him like he was expecting something. Like he was expecting Elijah to crumble down and start weeping.

 

“It has been a while Elijah !” the man beamed suddenly, too loud for Elijah.

 

 _Not long enough_ , was what Elijah would have answered, were he not utterly terrified by the outcome. He only pressed harder on Chloe’s hand, he took a shaky breath.

 

“What brings you here ?” He winced at how sharply it came out, and resisted the urge to shrink on himself when he saw a flash of something cross the man’s feature, before his smirk came back.

“Well, can’t a father visit his son without a reason ?”

  
It took all of Elijah’s willpower not to throw up. He couldn’t take it. This man had to go. Elijah was about to burst into tear right here, right there. He was willing to pray whatever non existing god for everything to end now.

Instead of breaking down, Elijah was sporting a total neutral expression.

  
“We have not seen each other in years,” he replied calmly.

“Indeed. You could have come back sometimes you know ?” There was some kind of fatherly reproach there, and Elijah fought back a quiet sob.

“I was busy,” was his excuse, and he couldn’t bring himself to look at the man at that point. He looked at the chess game instead. “May I assume that you are not here just to say hello ?”

The man chuckled. “You are right.” He took a seat by himself in front of Elijah, on the opposite side a the chess game. “I heard you weren’t at Cyberlife’s head anymore.”

 

Elijah felt it so bad.

  
“I really don’t understand why you stepped down of that. What a shame.” He shook his head, and Elijah stayed quiet. He didn’t need that man to know he had been kicked out of his own company. “And now that the Revolution has passed, well, I heard Cyberlife didn’t have anyone at its head right now.”

  
Elijah didn’t need to be told more. It was bad. Everything was bad. this man had views on Cyberlife, on one of the weak points of androids. This man would make everything crumble beneath their feet. He was anti-android. Elijah knew it all to well. If he managed to have his hands on Cyberlife, androids’ freedom would be taken from them, and a war would definitely come out of all of this.

This man wanted a war. This man wanted androids to be reduced to their state of slave. This man wanted androids to disappear.

He had to act.

 

“Markus and I do share Cyberlife’s ownership,” he continued politely, even though he wanted to growl. He needed to make this man back down, to convince him Cyberlife wasn’t something he could claim for himself.

“But not legally,” the man countered, calmly waving a chess piece before making a move. “Cyberlife isn’t owned by anybody legally.”

“Not yet.”

“You are right, not yet. And who would give that kind of company back to someone who didn’t even fight to keep his hand on the one thing he created.” Elijah froze, and the man glanced up at him, barely hiding his smirk. “Because that’s what happened, right ? You got ejected from you own company.”

 

How did he knew ? That couldn’t be possible. He was having a nightmare, none of it could be possible. The man’s smirk grew wick.

  
“And nobody would give a company this important to an android. Not yet. Not without a co-ownership with a human.”

  
Fuck fuck fuck !!

  
“But to someone who already have several companies and who knows how to handle and make them grow…” he trailed of, his smirk now a full grown evil grimace. At least, it was what it looked like to Elijah. “What do you think ?”

  
He couldn’t do that. His own father couldn’t be trying to steal his son’s company. It was…

It was hell.

 

“Get out.”

“Sorry ?” his smile flattered.

“You want me to willingly hand Cyberlife to you. That is not going to happen. Now get out.” Elijah snapped. He couldn’t fight back his father now. He needed to think sedately somewhere else, without this crushing presence in front of him. He needed this man to go now. He couldn’t will himself to do anything to make him back off right now because it was turmoil inside his head. If only…

  
If only he wasn’t that scared of his own father…

Chloe took the lead eventually, and politely asked the man to go away.

 

“You wanting it or not, it doesn’t change anything Elijah.” His voice wasn’t threatening in the least. Only sure of himself. And Elijah was sure the only reason he was not lashing out was because he knew Chloe was recording the whole conversation and could use it against him. “It would have been easier if you had handed it to me directly.”

 

The man made his way to the exit door, and Chloe’s hand wasn’t soothing anymore. Elijah couldn’t breath, and he couldn’t think, and he couldn't do anything. He felt like he was dying, and if it wasn’t for Chloe’s immediate reactions he would probably be.

  


It didn’t took long for M. Kamski to make himself heard about again. It wasn’t from his lawyer though, like he thought it would. Four days after the talk, Elijah received a call from Markus. He had kept Markus informed about his father whereabout. He had had to. He couldn’t have kept the whole ordeal secret when it was threatening androids’ freedom and rights. So even if admitting his father was back, both to Chloe and Markus, was hard, he had had to face it. M. Kamski was back to steal everything he ever built.

 

“Cyberlife’s ownership’s officially on trial starting today,” Markus said in lieu of a greeting. Elijah’s hands were shaking.

“I’ll get another meeting with my lawyer then. When are you free ?”

It wasn’t an answer that Markus gave him. “Will you be alright with fighting against him ? Chloe told me you have had several panic attacks since-”

“Who cares,” Elijah suddenly snapped. He didn’t want to hear any of this. He didn’t want any of this. He wasn’t that weak. He wasn't ! “He can’t have his hands on Cyberlife.”

“Kamski-”

“Androids’ freedom is at stake. Tell me when you are free.”

 

At that point, both Chloe and Markus knew that Elijah was hiding too much for his own good. Elijah refused to talk to anybody about whatever was linked to his father. He refused to acknowledge anything, to admit anything he was holding back. Elijah was even lying to himself.

Both of them knew Elijah couldn’t go anywhere without accepting what was happening, and probably what had happened once. But they couldn’t find a way to make him spit all the venom out. Because whenever they tried, Elijah would have another panic attack, or would close himself more again and snap at them a whole other kind of venom. Elijah was bad. Elijah was turning even worse.

Both of them knew Elijah Kamski will be their weak spot during this trial.

They needed to do something.

 


	3. Wasted (Gavin)

 

It’s been one of the worst week ever in Gavin’s life. And it was a hard thing to achieve, because a lot of weeks in Gavin’s life had been shitty. But one thing Gavin had learned during that week was that RK900 was a pro at making Gavin’s life worse than it already was.

RK900 was like a fucking piece of chewing gum glued under his shoe. Fowler had had the bad idea to give its main order to the android, just like RK900 had requested. “ _ Cyberlife decided not to give me any priority mission so the police could decide of one. Please determine my priority mission before any other. _ ” And fucking Fowler had decided to give it for priority mission to fucking  _ take care  _ of him !! He didn’t need a motherfucking babysitter !!! And certainly not a giant toaster !!!

Oh, said toaster did take its mission seriously ! Never fucking leaving him alone, even going as far as to accompany him back home. Gavin had slammed the door of his flat to its face every evening, only to discover the day after that the android had not moved one inch from its position. And every morning, his first reflex had been to yell at the fucking android for being such a pain in his ass. He couldn’t live with the prick behind his ass every minute.

Gavin hated Fowler. Had yelled it to him the very first day when he had announced and forced Gavin to work with the RK900. He had threatened to fire him from the precinct if he continued to disrespect him and yell murder threats to the android. Had fucking threatened to take his job, his fucking life away from him because, hey, you are doing shit these days anyway, so if you can’t keep up the good job then there is no excuse anymore to keep you despite the bad behavior.

Because Gavin was an asset inside of the DPD. One of the best detective there was there, and Gavin knew it was the only reason Fowler hadn’t fired him sooner. But now he had no security left. He was shitting his job. He knew it. He saw it. But he couldn’t do anything about it. He just couldn’t do his job anymore.

He just couldn’t do anything anymore.

He was a mess.

Not that he would say it out loud to anybody. Well, he didn’t need to, since Fowler had already offered him a motherfucking babysitter to ensure he would be back on track soon ! And fucking Fowler, again and always him, was giving him the easiest cases he had ! He wasn’t some goddamn newbie !! 

  
  


“ _ Detective, we have been called for a break-in. _ ”

  
  


Gavin grumbled. He passed a heavy hand on his face, trying to chase the weighing feeling that was forcing his eyes to shut, and the heavy headache he had. There were bottles of booze everywhere around him, and remnant of Red Ice on the coffee table. He was wasted. He had spent the night wasting himself, destroying his health further down again. He had barely slept at all, instead tossing and turning on his couch, drinking beers after beers and smoking drugs after drugs. He had not been wasted to this extent for awhile, but he couldn’t have helped himself. A whole week with the android, and his own incapability, and everything that had happened before, especially what had happened before... He couldn’t take it anymore. He was just wasted. He needed to get wasted.

The insensitive fridge in front of his door knocked once again, urging him to come out so they could go on their next case. Gavin groaned loudly, making the other understand that he had heard. He tried to get up, only to fall back on the couch almost immediately. His head was throbbing so much, and his mouth was full of bile. 

He didn’t even take time to change into more presentable clothes and only took his jacket once he managed to get up and make his way to the door.

His usual anger came back right when he opened said door to a very frigid overgrown sexdoll.

  
  


“God fucking damnit, don’t you ever give me a break ?!!”

  
  


RK900’s expression didn’t flatter one bit. It only looked at Gavin right through, and then glanced quickly inside the flat. Gavin closed his door soundly behind him before the toaster could see too much, but he knew it was useless.

  
  


“You are drunk, and there are remnant of Red Ice at the corner of your mouth,” RK900 stated calmly, and Gavin shook a hand at his face.

“Whatever ! Case or not ?!!”

“It is against my mission to let you go on a case scene in such a state.”

“TO HELL YOUR FUCKING MISSION !!!” Gavin shoved the android which didn’t even moved from its spot. It only served to hurt Gavin’s wrist. He angrily started to go for the stairs when RK900 grabbed his arm and pinned him right on the spot. It was shoving Gavin’s keys under his nose.

“You forgot to lock your door.”

  
  


Gavin grumbled soundly and tried to reach for his keys, only for RK900 to lift them out of his reach.

  
  


“Goddamn you fucking-”

  
  


RK900 didn’t use any more civilities and shoved Gavin back into his own flat. If it weren’t for RK900’s grip on his arm, Gavin would have stumble forward and fall down, knocking his head against the closest furniture. 

  
  


“The fuck are you doing ?!!” he snapped loudly, reaching uselessly for RK900’s grip to make him let go.

“Right now, the most effective way to take care of you is to have you sobering up and ejecting the drug from your blood system,” it said matter-of-factly while dragging Gavin to the bedroom.

“LET ME GO YOU FUCKER !! I DON’T WANT YOU TO TAKE CARE OF ME OR WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO !!!”

  
  
  


They went to the break-in in the late afternoon, after Gavin had been forced by a very persuasive roomba to sleep and take a shower. He felt like shit, oh god, but at least he wouldn’t have to deal with Fowler because he came drunk and high on a crime scene. His head was slightly clearer too, and that was probably the only reason he didn’t snap when a very annoyed woman voiced her utter distraught at having to wait the whole day for a police officer to come when she called in the early morning.

  
  


“We were on another case, and nobody could have come before. Our most sincere apologies madam,” RK900 lied easily, and that made the woman barely more agreeable.

  
  


They made their way inside the house to the living room, where another lady was waiting on one of the sofa. She immediately got up when they came in and bowed her head at the two policemen.

  
  


“Thank you for coming officers. May I offer you a coffee ?” she asked politely, and before Gavin could answer because, god yes, he needed one, RK900’s dismissed the suggestion. Gavin glared at it.

“Please, take place,” the first woman gestured to one of the sofa, and Gavin totally slumped on it, which earned him a scornful look from her, and a little amused look from the second lady. RK900 stayed dutifully up behind Gavin, hands behind his back.

“Can you tell us what happened please ?” RK900 carefully asked.

“Sure. My name is Annabelle Swift,” the first woman presented herself. She then took the other lady’s hand in hers. “And this is my wife, Elois. We were on a business trip until yesterday night in Washington DC, and we didn’t immediately saw that the house had been forced. This morning, when we were finishing to put our things back in place, we remarked that some things had disappeared. After looking through the whole house, we saw they weren’t the only things that were missing.”

“Alright,” Gavin nodded. His detective persona had popped back on during Annabelle’s explanations. “Do you have a list of everything that has been stolen ?”

“We made one yes,” Elois piped up cautiously, and she handed him a piece of paper with several things noted on, going from jewelry to cutlery, passing by a collection of coins. Gavin immediately handed it to RK900.

“Can my…  _ colleague- _ ” Gavin sneered the word before he could help himself “-inspect the house while I ask you further questions ?”

  
  


Annabelle glared slightly at the two of them, and it was Elois who agreed to it with a kind smile.

  
  


“Please, do whatever you need to do.”

“You said you didn’t see any changes at first,” Gavin started his questioning while Robocop went to do a tour of the house. “Do you know of anybody who could know the house well enough to break-in without having to break the lock or disturb anything ?”

“Do you think the thief knew where everything was beforehand ? Did they knew the house ?” Elois asked, gripping her wife’s hand a little harder.

“That’s one of the most likely scenario, yes.”

“Well, of course our respective families came here several times,” Annabelle groaned, and it looked like she had an idea about who it could be.

“I do have one colleague,” Elois said, unsure, “who came here a few times. He did knew about the business trip too but…”

“I have one close friend too, but she would never do that,” Annabelle stated, sure about it.

  
  


Gavin nodded, and RK900 came back from wherever it had been going to this time inspect the doors at the front and the back of the house.

  
  


“You mentioned your families. Do you have someone precise in mind ?”

“Yeah, my brother,” Annabelle nearly spit.

“Jack is a good boy-” Elois tried to counter, only for Annabelle to interrupt her.

“Jack is a jealous bitch who can’t do a single thing straight in his life !!”

“Annabelle, please ! You know that’s not true !!” Elois cried at her wife, before turning to Gavin with pleading eyes. “Jack is really not that bad. He had had some problems, but he is trying to get back on his feet. He wouldn’t do that now.”

“He would.”

  
  


RK900 finally came back behind Gavin, as the man was looking back and forth between the wives. It looked like they finally decided to end their little banter there, because nothing more came out of their mouth.

  
  


“Can we have the names and addresses of every person you mentioned ?” Gavin finally asked.

  
  
  
  


They couldn’t interview everyone on the list the same day, because of the time at which they went to the crime scene, so when they were on their way back to Gavin’s flat, they only had the stories of the friend and the colleague. RK900 was making the point of every element they had until now, so they could use the night to piece what they knew for the moment together. 

The first time RK900 had done that, Gavin had growled it was useless, and that he still had everything in mind. Turned out that the next day he had forgot about everything because he had been drunk. RK900 had made a point of reviewing everything every evening and every morning, and Gavin would never admit it, but it was helping him.

He would never admit it, but before RK900’s appearance, Gavin couldn’t even find the force to put his police officer persona on when he was arriving on a scene. Now it was back on from time to time, and it became easier to do his job.

But Gavin would never admit it.

 

 

“M. Johnson, Elois’ colleague, has an already validated alibi since he was visiting his sister who had just given birth and had taken care of her for the past three days,” the android started to recapitulate.

“Why the ever fuck would he have to take care of her in the first place ? Doesn’t she have a husband or some shit like that ?” Gavin had grumbled absent mindedly. He hadn’t planned to say it out loud, but he had.

“Ms. Johnson’s partner died during her pregnancy. She is an alone mother.”

“Well shit.”

“Annabelle’s friend, Ms. Halliwell, doesn’t have an alibi, but her vitals didn’t show any sign of her lying. Besides, Annabelle and her both stated Ms. Halliwell had asked money from Annabelle twice in the past, and she had never been ashamed to ask for help from her.”

“So that exempt her from deciding not to ask this time and to just help herself ?” Gavin snorted without joy.

“It does not, but it seems unlikely.”

“Right, whatever. How ‘bout your little tour ‘round the house ?”

“I did not find any fingerprint or footstep. Nothing seemed to be out of place, and the few locks have been opened by their respective keys that were apparently hidden on some other places in the house. The front and back doors showed no sign of damage, but the door leading to the garage has been picked. It isn’t visible to human eyes though. Mss. Swift don’t possess any cameras inside, but the CCTV outside show a vehicle stationning in front of the house two days ago, late at night around 11pm. If one of our suspects does have this vehicle, it would incriminate them greatly.”

“A’right. To be continued tomorrow,” Gavin drawled, passing a hand on his face. Even though he had slept almost all day because of the prick next to him, he was feeling totally and utterly tired. 

“I still believe it would be better if you let me in your flat. It is the third time you come out drunk to go to work and-”

“Like hell I’ll let you enter my flat !!” Gavin suddenly spitted. He was barely fine, having to deal with the android at work, because, well, it did a good job, and it was making Gavin’s one easier. And, after a week trying to fight off RK900’s assistance at every hour, Gavin had understood that RK900 was less insistent on staying glued to his ass when he was letting it help during work than when he was pushing it aside every other minute.

“You can obviously not be trusted by yourself not to drink or smoke-” RK900 pressed further, and Gavin turned so quickly toward the android that his own head spinned.

“Listen there you plastic piece of fuck, I am kind enough to let you do your stuff all day when we work, now get off of my ass for the rest because I will end up straight up murdering you should I have to deal with you one more minute a day !!”

  
  


It was probably Gavin’s tiredness that was making him see stuff, because there was no way that little hint of amusement passing through RK900’s eyes was real. The android was not a deviant, it was for sure. As such, it couldn’t be amused by things, and definitely not by Gavin.

And it was only then that Gavin saw that they were standing in front of his place, and that RK900 had his keys between its fingers. That android seemed to like stealing stuff from Gavin a bit too much.

Gavin snatched his keys from RK900’s grip and furiously tried to get them in the lock. It took him three attempts before he could finally unlock his door. Once inside, he turned back to glare at the android.

  
  


“Get fucking lost somewhere you giant roomba !!”

  
  


And on that he slammed the door in RK900’s expressionless face, just like he had done for the past week.

He was oh so getting drunk tonight.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, now the three major problems are set ! POV are going to roll between the six main characters and they globally go by pairs (Connor & Hank, Gavin & RK, Elijah & Chloe).
> 
> Also, I was supposed to give a name to RK (Nines or Richard coz even if I don't like that name, I love how half the fandom decided to name him that just for the satisfaction of being able to call him Dick) but I kept forgetting so RK will just be named RK :')
> 
> And finally : Thanks so much for leaving kudos already, I hope you will continue to enjoy it /o/


	4. Wrath (Hank)

 

Connor has changed so much in the spent of one week, it was making Hank’s joke of a heart break. 

After the Revolution, after his deviancy, Connor had become like an overgrown puppy, eager to learn about everything, and about himself. He had watched Hank’s habits ever so closely, he had started to pick on those habits for himself and displayed them proudly in front of everybody at the precinct. Lieutenant Lorenzo had once laughed and pointed out how Connor was starting to roll his eyes, with the little head move, the exact same way Hank would do.

Connor had also started to speak a different way, and when Hank had asked him why he had suddenly started to sound so weird, Connor had only replied with “ _ The character from the movie we saw yesterday talked like that. I liked it. _ ” It hadn’t been the first time he was explaining a new behaviour with a joyful  _ I saw it once and I liked it _ . Hank liked it too.

Connor had started making friends at work, with the young newbie who was doing lots of night shifts, and with the android receptionist he chatted with every morning. He had opened up to almost everybody in the precinct, even saying good mornings and offering coffees to the few policemen and women who couldn’t deal with androids yet and all but sneered at him in return.

Connor had been so human in only several weeks.

And now everything had shattered into pieces.

Connor was back to his initial state as a heartless android. At least, it looked like it. He was standing as straight as when he hadn’t deviated, barely ever going out of his way like he had started to try recently. Never doing anything useless to his mission anymore. He didn’t talk to anybody but for the needs of a case. He didn’t have his strange habits he had picked up from Hank or any random tv show they had seen together anymore. 

Connor wasn’t smiling anymore. Or showing any emotion whatsoever. The only emotion he ever displayed at all was when he was catching glimpses of the RK900 at the precinct. And it wasn’t a sight Hank liked at all. 

Connor’s eyes were full of wrath, a strange glow dancing at the back of his orbits each time he would lay his eyes on his almost exact replica. Up until now, Hank had managed to have the two androids never interacting with each other. Hank didn’t want to admit it, but he was sure Connor would commit a murder, would he be let near the RK900 for even the shortest amount of time. He would never let that happen. Be it for Connor or for RK900.

Hank was mad about the android’s arrival too, but he had managed to regain some sort of logic while he was trying to restrain Connor from any mad thoughts he could have. Hank had started to feel slightly bad for the new android. 

RK900 had had a hell of a first week. First it had had to go through Hank yelling at it for no reason other than it was messenger of bad news. Then, it had had the coffee-shower from Reed, and the almost incessant screeching and banters from the Detective. And while having to deal with the man-child, it had had to go through the precinct’s treatment. The few who couldn’t stand androids were giving it the same hell they had given Connor at first. And every other, who had learnt to enjoy Connor’s presence, were even worse. It was something usual, inside that kind of police department, to defend tooth and nails their colleague when they were in a bad situation, even if they hated said colleague. It had never been as true as now.

RK900 wasn’t welcomed in the department. It was crystal clear.

Hank was almost feeling bad for it. The only reason he didn’t pity the android was that it wasn’t a deviant, and as such it wouldn’t mind at all the treatment it was going through. It wasn’t alive. Yet.

  
  


“If what we have here is true, then we can get a fucker tonight !” Hank chirped suddenly, slamming his hands on his terminal. “You ready for some action Con- Fuck ! Hey Lorenzo, have you seen Connor ?!”

  
  


The lieutenant shrugged from the other side of the bullpen. It wasn’t the first time Connor disappeared while at work. It had happened a few times, and each time Hank couldn’t help but panic slightly. What if Connor had finally let his rage take him over ? What if he had done something to the new android ? Each time, though, Hank had found Connor in the restroom, obviously taking a break from his perfect robot-act. Connor would straight up slip back into the role as soon as Hank would open the door though, but he couldn’t trick Hank.

He panicked more than usual this time though, because Reed and RK900 had left the precinct only minutes ago, while Hank was rambling about his finding on the Red Ice dealing case. Meaning Connor could totally have catch up with them to end RK900’s life.

Hank stormed out of the bullpen with a loud groan, catching a few officers’ attention. He did kick the restroom’s door open, just by sheer hope Connor wouldn’t have done something stupid. He cursed even louder when he found the place empty and continued to run toward the exit. 

Connor wasn’t answering, not that it was a surprise to Hank, and he didn’t have Reed’s phone number. He had always deleted it each and every time he had had the bad luck of needing to deal with him on a case. He just couldn’t stand him. Now he regretted it.

Didn’t regretted it anymore when he found Reed alone, smoking in front of the building and making his way toward the car park.

  
  


“Hey Reed, where the fuck is your android ?!!” Hank called at him, and he could hear Reed groan as he was making a dramatic turn over to face Hank.

“Dunno, don’t care ! First time I’m alone in ten fucking days !!” Reed threw his hands toward the sky like that was some kind of miracle. “If I were you I would start making bet on which android will bleed the most though !” On that Reed resumed his walking, not missing to raise a finger over his shoulder. Hank heard him mutter something under his breath as he was about to resume his running too. “Would almost hope for fucking Connor to kill the giant toaster.”

  
  


Fuck, fuck and fuck ! Connor was about to make a mistake that would totally ruin his faint chances of being saved. If he attacked the android, if he hurt it…

Hank couldn’t think about it.

  
  
  


It was the first time in ten days that Hank was seeing Connor’s LED glow in another color than yellow. It wasn’t soothing Hank’s worries though, because the LED’s was rapidly blinking in red flashes.

It was also the first time in ten days that Hank was seeing the RK900’s LED glow in another color than a soft blue. Not that he was behind its back 24/7 like Reed was, but Hank was almost sure the android’s LED never glowed that kind of yellow unless it was investigating a crime scene.

Connor and RK900 were facing each other, standing upright and not moving an inch. No blows have been thrown, or at least, from Hank’s point of view, they seemed to be both totally clean. They both had their hand’s skin retracted though. It was obvious that they had been interfacing together until very recently. RK900’s skin was coming back in place a lot quicker than Connor’s, but while his expression was still as unreadable as ever, his LED was whirling a wild yellow on his temple. Connor’s expression was full of a barely contained wrath, like it was every time he was looking at RK900.

RK900 started talking first.

  
  


“I believe your partner is waiting for you.” It didn’t look at Hank though, still staring at Connor.

“And yours have not waited before going without you.”

  
  


Connor turned toward Hank and was already leaving the scene when RK900’s mused a little “ _ Indeed _ ” that made Hank frown. For a moment, it had seemed slightly less robotic than usual. Hank eventually turned to follow Connor.

  
  


“What happened ?” he finally urged, not hiding the hint of concern he was feeling.

“I didn’t hurt it in any way, contrary to what you seem to believe.”

  
  


Hank winced. He didn’t like that toneless way of speaking. And of course Connor would have known he had been trying to avoid any meeting between the two androids because he had been worried Connor would lash out. He had never wanted to make Connor believe he didn’t trust him. He only ever wanted to protect him.

  
  


“I know son, I saw it,” Hank couldn’t voice any excuse. He continued to pry though, because he needed to know. “You interfaced ?” 

“Something was off with it. I only suggested to look to be sure it wouldn’t hamper his mission and it accepted.”

“You… You helped the RK900 ?”

  
  


Connor gave him a pointed look behind his mask of robotic aura. And Hank could see some sadness dance in his pupils.

  
  


“Did you really think I would hurt it ?”

  
  


And Hank’s heart broke for an umpteenth time this week.

  
  
  
  


“CONNOR !!!”

  
  


Hank was breathless. Of course that fucking dealer had been high on Red Ice, and so totally paranoid, and so he had knew more than seen that Connor and Hank had been watching him for a few hours. They still had caught him dealing drug, before he had started to run away suddenly. Hank was definitely too old for shits like chasing a culprit through half a block. Connor had always been the best at that, being tireless and all.

Hank would have totally preferred if Connor had not chased the culprit though, because the wasted man had shot at Connor a few times at the beginning of the chase. A few times actually being a completely emptied loader. And now the android was soaking blue blood from three distinct holes in his chest, and one in his leg.

Connor didn’t look in pain at all, only calmly cuffing the dealer who was squirming under him. He looked up at Hank when he heard him shout.

  
  


“Suspect arrested lieutenant,” he said dutifully, nodding at the form beneath him.

“The fuck Connor ?!!” Hank cried as he yanked Connor up to look at him. “Have you seen yourself ?!”

“I am fine lieutenant.”

“Like hell you are !! You’re gonna tell me you aren’t in critical state with all those holes ?!”

“I am no-”

“DON’T YOU DARE LIE TO ME !!!”

  
  


Connor lowered his eyes like a child caught hand in a bag of candy.

 

  
  
“Tell me how bad it is.”

“Shutdown in five minutes…” Connor murmured.

“AND YOU CALL THAT NOT BAD ??!!!” Hank screeched, and it made Connor wince visibly. He yanked the dealer back on his feet and dragged him along Connor to where their car was parked. “Call the fucking repair right now,” Hank growled to Connor, tugging at the dealer more than necessary.

“Why…”

“Why ?!!” Hank cried suddenly. He turned toward Connor to shake him with both hands, letting their hostage fall on his knees. “Because you’re fucking dying ! That’s why !!!”

  
  


He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Did Connor lose his fucking mind ?! It did seem so when Hank heard the android mutters.

  
  


“ _ Now or in a month, that’s the same anyway… _ ”

  
  


The slap went by itself. Time slowed down to come to a stop as Connor looked at Hank like he had blasphemed Ra9’s great ancestors or something. He leveled a hand to his cheek.

  
  


“Wha-”

“Did you recover your goddamn mind ?!” Hank yelled, totally ready to give his son another slap right now.

“I-”

“You’re not going to die, be it today, or in a month, or fucking next year ! Not on my fucking watch !! You hear me ?!!”

“Yes…”

“Now call the frigging repair before I drag you there myself by the skin of your goddamn ass !”

“It’s done…”

“Good !”

 

 

Hank pulled the dealer back on his feet and urged him to walk to the nearest crossroad where they could all wait kindly for reinforcement and repair. He took Connor’s hand in his free one and tugged him too. Connor hands were shaking, and Hank didn’t need to look to know that he was crying.

  
  


“I’m not gonna let you die kid,” Hank growled, ready to fight the whole world. It earned him a broken sob from Connor.

“I’m sorry…”

  
  


It was barely a whisper.

Connor closed his eyes in his father’s embrace, one of Hank’s hand delicately petting his scalp, only seconds before sirens could be heard at the end of the street. Hank kissed the android’s forehead before he put his own on it.

He will fight the whole world and more to keep Connor at his side for the rest of his life. He will fight and not let go until he would have what he wanted. 

He will not let another son die anytime soon.

_ Not on his fucking watch. _

  
  
  



	5. Phantom Errors (RK900)

 

RK900 didn’t know much about humans but what it could find on the internet. Its knowledge barely revolved around the facts that humans were illogical, overly emotional, and had a tendency to auto-destruct.

It was probably mostly true to its human in charge, but RK900 had figured the whole specie was sharing those kind of behaviors.

Despite RK900 focusing mostly on Detective Gavin Reed, it couldn’t help but investigating on humans behavior each time it could. It was observing how victims of abuse would be more emotional than normal, how angry culprits would be even more illogical than what should be humanly possible. It was observing how humans would act differently when they thought they were alone than when they were with people they seemed close to, or even when they were with ones they hated.

RK900 has seen how the precinct was illogically reacting to its presence. It hadn’t missed how the mood had drastically lowered when it had stepped out of Fowler’s office after the RK800, the lieutenant Anderson and detective Reed had all stormed out one after the other. It hadn’t missed the glares, and the murmurs, and every other barely hidden actions against its presence.

RK900 couldn’t care less.

Their illogical anger wouldn’t affect its work in any way. RK900 wasn’t here to befriend the other police officers. It was supposed to take care of the detective in its charge and it would.

The detective in question didn’t make its task easy though.

First there had been the death threats in Fowler’s office. Detective Reed had unconsciously reached for his gun several times between the mess of wild moves his arms were making. Fowler and RK900 had both cautiously observed him, both ready to act would the detective decide to unsheath the weapon. Then Fowler had given him an ultimatum : working with the android or losing his job. Reed’s vitals had reached a worrying peak at that point as he had let out every once of blind rage bubbling inside him. He had finally slammed Fowler’s desk, and the door when he had stormed out.

Then there had been the coffee shower and the public humiliation in the middle of the bullpen. RK900 had just tried to offer the detective a cup of coffee to appease a little his tension, having searched it was a common usage for newcomers to offer a drink to their partner. Reed had not drank it, instead yanking the cup to instantly throw its content at RK900’s head. From the precinct reaction, RK900 could have determined it was not the first time it had happened, and from the corner of its eyes it could see Reed’s coffee shower prior victim walk back into the bullpen with the lieutenant Anderson. RK900 had not deemed useful to register a single thing Reed was rambling and screeching. It just somewhat understood that it wasn’t welcomed in any way and that if it tried to get in Reed’s way, it would end up straight in the trashes where it belonged.

The next memorable event had been the next day, when the detective had come to a crime scene drunk and high. RK900 had made a note to wait for Reed in front of his flat and not at the crime scenes in the future to avoid any other situation of this kind. Reed had of course been yelling at it and RK900 had only made more notes about what future things it needed to do to take care of the detective. The first one had been to drag him out of the crime scene because he had been traumatizing a victim even more, and attracting the attention on them was not a good thing considering Reed’s state.

RK900 had established a few new habits in the detective’s life, not that he had approved any of them. RK900 was waiting in front of his door every morning to ensure he wouldn’t come to work drunk or high. He had started to remind Reed frequently about the state of their ongoing cases and had acted as the voice of reason several times as Reed was being too forceful with a suspect and was toeing the line of illegal.

Reed had of course tried to reject any of those new habits, but RK900 had always found a pacific way to make the detective follow those new habits anyway. It was improving his way of life and his work ever so slightly, and when Reed would remark that a few days after the new habits’ establishing, he would start to struggle a bit less. Not much, because the detective would never admit anything the android was doing was successful. But a bit nonetheless.

Reed could be so childish and illogical.

RK900 liked that.

 

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

 

Reed was fascinating. It was something RK900 couldn’t ignore. The way he was saying something when he was obviously thinking otherwise. The little habits he had that was making him so human and that it couldn’t copy or even understand why he was doing that. Reed never slept at night, but could spend the whole day snoring on his couch. Reed lived exclusively of strong black coffee and energy drinks, but the way his eyes as softened when he had remarked RK900 had added a little cloud of cream once had said a lot. Reed was always trying to fight RK900 physically when it only ended to backfire even though the android wouldn’t do a thing. Reed always forgot the easiest tasks like locking his door to go to work and jumped to reach his keys RK900 would playfully hold too high.

 

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

 

RK900 never thought its errors to be that visible. They were mostly phantom errors and the pop-ups would be dismissed as quickly as they would appear. It wasn’t influencing its mission in anyway, and the repeated scans proved that nothing was wrong with it, so RK900 never truly gave a second thought to those errors flashing from time to time.

The RK800 about to be deactivated had remarked something was wrong though, because for the first time in ten days, he had come to talk to it. Until now, lieutenant Anderson had always found a way to ensure the two androids wouldn’t meet. It had been so obvious even RK900 had saw it when it barely crossed the RK800 and the lieutenant Anderson two minutes a day.

The android had come to RK900 despite his obvious aversion for it, and had asked if everything was alright.

  


“I’m surrounded by two fucking terminators, how the fuck would everything be alright,” Reed muttered only to be ignored by the two androids.

“Everything is alright,” RK900 stated, locking eyes with the other android. “We have interviews to do now, if you don’t mind.”

  


The RK800 frowned slightly more than usual at being dismissed like that.

 

  
  
“May we talk ?”

  


RK900 saw Reed stare stupidly at them, registering the android’s tone and expression at the same time he had seen RK900’s LED blink yellow for a microsecond. Finally he jumped out of reach immediately with a weird smirk.

  


“Please Connor, take all the time you need !!”

  


And on that he disappeared with a full smile on his lips. RK900 would have rolled its eyes, would it be human. Did its human really believed he could find a way to hide from RK900 ? Did he really thought they would fight each other to death ? Even if it happened, RK900 would win against its opponent. It had been made to surpass him after all. So Reed would have to deal with it anyway.

But RK900 would let him enjoy a few minutes alone. Only because the smile he had displayed earlier had been a beautiful one.

 

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

 

The RK800 frowned slightly again.

  


“Did you need anything Connor ?” And the frown turned into a wince at hearing his counterpart pronounce his name.

“I only caught glimpses of you so I can’t be sure of anything, but... Do you experience strange errors sometimes ?”

  


RK900’s LED blinked yellow suddenly, before going back to a steady blue. So the errors had been visible, meaning they could get in the way of its mission.

  


“I do,” it answered truthfully, because there was no point in hiding what was visible. “But the scans I ran didn’t revealed anything worth worrying.”

  


Connor seemed to think for a moment, his gaze going from RK900’s eyes to its LED, to the way Reed had disappeared before looking back at it again. It looked like something was on his mind, and he was such a bad liar, everything was on a display through his eyes.

  


“Anything else ?” RK900 pressed the other android, as it was starting to let the detective too much time to actually run away.

“Do you want me to take a look ?”

  


**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

  


Connor’s LED turned red suddenly. RK900 must have let something that looked like amusement over its features, but it couldn’t have helped it. The error message had distracted it long enough for it to show. About 0.0013 second. And Connor was illogical because of the rush of emotions he seemed to be victim of since RK900’s appearance.

Connor hated RK900, it was obvious. Mocking him would only make it worse.

  


“Please proceed.”

  


Connor’s eyes softened ever so slightly, and he leveled his hand toward RK900’s so they could interface. While it was passing datas through their links, RK900 could see different things pass through Connor’s features. A bit of annoyment, a slight amusement at one point, and mostly concern.

In return, RK900 had access to some emotions and thoughts Connor had been displaying lately, more because Connor couldn’t contain them than because he wanted it to know. A lot of despair, a lot of sadness, a hint of hate and jealousy aimed at RK900. It was messy, and strangely harder to process than RK900 would have thought it would be. RK900 barely understood any of it.

When they stopped interfacing, Connor’s LED was blinking red, and its own was a steady yellow. Those simple displays seemed to worry Connor’s partner uselessly, as he was standing a few feet away, looking like he had ran a marathon.

 

**//Communication request sent by RK800 #313 248 317-51 : ACCEPT - REFUSE//**

**//Communication request sent by RK800 #313 248 317-51 : ACCEPTED//**

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : Don’t worry about those errors. It’s a common thing. It won’t get in your way.

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ : You do know what this is.

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : I do.

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ : What is it ?

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : Phantom errors.

**//Communication with RK800 #313 248 317-51 : INTERRUPTED//**

  


“I believe your partner is waiting for you,” RK900 said suddenly, because the silence between them had been growing too much and lieutenant Anderson’s vitals had started to become panicked. Connor would not answer it, it had understood. There was no point in pressing the matter any further.

“And yours have not waited before going without you.”

  


**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

  


“ _Indeed~_ ”

  
  
But Reed didn’t get very far. RK900 almost felt saddened about it. It had been waiting for a little hide and seek game the moment Reed had started to run away. RK900 saw two error messages flash across its view, and it dismissed them like every other.

Detective Reed was waiting against his car, several cigarette butts lying on the ground as his fingers were trying to light another one. His hands were shaking horribly, and his vitals were bad. _Panic attack_ RK900’s systems mused uselessly.

RK900 had let Reed alone five minutes and a panic attack was the result.

  


“I believe you have smoked enough for today detective,” the android said while reaching slowly for the lighter that was nearly burning Reed’s fingers.

“Go to hell,” he muttered back, and lit his cigarette. RK900 had steadied his shaking hand with its own so he wouldn’t burn himself in the process. And only then had it taken the lighter in its hands and hidden it in its jacket.

“Do you need a break before M. Swift’s interview ?”

“I don’t ! Get your ass in the car !!”

  


The detective’s bite was back, and his vitals showed he had calmed down a bit. RK900 judged acceptable to let him behind the wheel, but kept a part of his processors focused on the road, should it need to take the commands itself.

  
  
  


“It is the same car.”

“Mmh ?”

“That car parked in front of us is the one that appeared on the CCTV footage of the break-in.”

“Awesome ! Let’s cuff this idiot !!”

  


**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

  


Sometimes Detective Gavin Reed was acting as if he was less intelligent than he truly was. It should have somewhat exasperated RK900. Instead, it found it funny.

They were both in front of M. Swift’s flat. The area wasn’t a nice rich one like Ms. Swift’s house was situated in. The flat was situated in the suburbs, the one kind you’d see in movies were everybody carried a gun in their jackets and were dealing drugs. It was such a huge pit between the brother and the sister’s situations.

RK900 let the detective bump his fist several times against the flat’s door, urging whoever was inside to open.

  


“I don’t see any human inside,” the android finally said, and Reed grumbled.

  


The detective had never been a patient man. He kicked the door open before RK900 could have suggested to pick up the lock. The door slammed soundly against the wall behind, and Reed had already unsheathed his gun as he walked in the flat. RK900 followed close behind.

The flat was definitely abandoned. And it reminded RK900 a bit of Reed’s own flat. Everything was lying everywhere, and especially where it shouldn’t be. Dozens of beer bottles were strewing around the couch, the tv wasn’t even plugged on, clothes and papers were laying everywhere and even beneath the couch.

  


**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

  


“A bit of household chores would have been very much appreciated,” he said, piercing holes in Reed’s head who leveled his middle finger to its face at the hidden spike.

“Less talk, more investigations,” he ordered, but he threw himself on the couch.

“I am unsure of your investigations method,” RK900 almost chuckled.

  


**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

 

  
“Thinking like your prey is the best way to catch it,” Reed gestured at his head as he took an empty beer bottle in hand. “See, I just stole my own sister’s goods, probably because I drank too much yesterday, and I was stupid enough to come back here. What should I do now ?”

“Drink a beer, obviously,” RK900 made a strange crackling sound as an umpteenth error message blinked at the corner of his eye. Reed didn’t remark the sound as he continued his rambling.

“Obviously. I’m fucked up and I know it,” he did as if he was drinking, before he discarded the bottle on the ground. “I have to run away before I am caught. But I don’t take the car. Why ?”

  


RK900 didn’t answer. If M. Swift had really been drunk, then his logic wouldn’t have told him taking the car again was a bad thing. On the contrary, the faster, the better.

Reed suddenly got up and made his way to a window at the other side of the flat, before he answered his own question.

  


“Because I’m scared. I came back here because I didn’t plan what could come next, but now I start to panic because I did something stupid. I can’t go away using the front door. I’m too scared for that.”

  


He pushed the window slightly, which opened by itself. It hadn’t been locked.

  


“Bingo~ Alright sex doll, d’you see any footprints out there ?” he asked with a proud smile.

  


**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

  


“I do. But before following this, I found other details around the flat that you should know about.”

“Still think my investigations’ methods are bad ?” Detective Reed smirked at the android.

“They suit you.”

  


The exaggerated eye roll that followed made more phantom errors messages appear, along with a slight disturbance in RK900’s regular thirium pump’s fonctionnement.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (It was supposed to be //Software instablitly// but I wrote the whole thing with //System : error// *sigh* Sorry)
> 
> Thanks again for the kudos <3


	6. Digging (Chloe)

 

Chloe had always hated when Elijah worked himself to exhaustion. He had stopped doing that right after being ejected from Cyberlife, after having fought tooth and nails to keep his place. Chloe knew Elijah was tired of fighting too. Both of them hated this.

When they had finally decided to step back from everything, to live recluse, they had started to breath again and to appreciate life like it was supposed to be appreciated. Elijah had never been less stressed, less tensed. It had done him good. It had given him time to think. To take a break from everything and ressource himself. 

Chloe loved that Elijah. The one who was still so full of ideas, who would stand up suddenly from his lunch to rush to his worklab and note his ideas. The one who would take time for himself, to swim a bit and do sports, to take naps on the couch while Chloe was braiding his hair. The one who always showered Chloe with every new invention and attention he could.

The one who would smile a truthful smile on a daily basis because he was sincerely happy.

But Elijah was not smiling anymore. He was locking himself up in his worklab, not to create like he used to, but to find everything he could to ensure he would win the trial. Every proof he had to discredit his father. Every proof he had to show the world he was worthy of his own company.

Elijah took all of that very seriously, and it was making Chloe nervous. She didn’t understand how an unknown man could have his hand on Cyberlife that easily. She didn’t understand how Cyberlife’s own creator could be pushed aside from owning it.

But Elijah didn’t tell her anything. He barely ever talked to her at all. He was pushing her aside, not accepting any form of help she could provide. Chloe had resigned herself to just take care of the house and try to force Elijah to eat and go to sleep from time to time.

She didn’t know what she could do to help him.

Seeing him like that made her thirium pump hurt and send dozens of error messages. She had tried to ask for help from Markus. And he had tried ! Really ! But Elijah would push him away too, only ever talking to him about the trial and the lawyer and related stuff. Markus and Chloe had both tried to press the subject once during one of his visits at the house. It had not gone well.

  
  


“Markus ! Glad to see you ! Did you get what I asked you ?”

  
  


Elijah had looked more anxious than happy to see Markus. The android had just nodded quietly and handed him a few papers. Elijah was about to storm out to his worklab again, when Markus had stepped in front of him.

  
  


“Anything else ?” Elijah had inquired without looking up from his papers.

“You need to take a break from the whole thing and to clear your head,” Markus had stated, and Elijah had finally leveled his eyes to look at him as if he was a mad man.

“My head is clear and we have more important things to do than quietly sip some tea.”

“Elijah, you have not slept correctly since M. Kamski came here,” Chloe had cautiously informed him, and it only served to wound up Elijah a bit more.

“A blind man could see how tired you are, and it will not help our case.”

  
  


The look of pure betrayal that had crossed Elijah’s face had shaken Chloe so much she had had to lower her eyes. Elijah had darted to his worklab without a word, and neither Chloe nor Markus had stopped him.

 

 

 

**//Communication with RK200 #684 842 971 - Status : ONGOING//**

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : It can’t go on like this. 

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : If Elijah wants to win this trial, he need to either step down, or tell us what’s working him up so hard.

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : I don’t know how we can do that.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : We need to make him talk somehow.

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : He won’t talk to anybody.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Not to us, at least…

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : We’ll have to figure it by ourselves.

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : Figure what ?

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : What is happening between Kamski and his father.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : It’s something serious for him to react that way.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : If we can look through their record somehow…

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Or find another Kamski who would be willing to tell us how to help him, then we could figure something.

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : I will do it.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Are you sure ?

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : Your hands are already full with the trial and politics. The only thing I can do right now is cook for Elijah and try to force him to sleep from time to time.

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : What I mean is : I have time to do it.

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : I’ll find a way.

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : I want to help !

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Alright.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Keep me in touch if you find something ?

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : Of course !

**//Communication with RK200 #684 842 971 - Status : ENDED//**

  
Chloe had absolutely no idea how she could find what she needed.

Elijah was a cautious man. Even as a public figure, he had always been very careful about what would filter through the media’s nets. He would go out of his way to keep his private life a secret and would buy back informations or use his lawyer to ensure what had been taken would be useless. Nothing has filtered during the years Chloe has been activated. She had personally taken care of a few of those cases.

So it wasn’t a surprise Chloe didn’t find anything the first few days. Had she not known M. Kamski and Elijah were related, she would have had a hell of time finding out any connection beside their name.

So Chloe tried doing it methodically. If she couldn’t find anything from their name, then she would go back in time, starting from today, and little by little make her way back to the past. She would review what had happened when Elijah has been fired from his own company, what had happened at its creation. What had happened before, when she was barely an idea in the back of Elijah’s head. What had happened before again, when Elijah was barely a child.

  
  


_ “You must be kidding me !” _

 

_ Elijah was barely containing his wrath. His shaking fists were tight enough to make his knuckles white, and the way he was biting his lip drew some blood out of his body. Elijah couldn’t believe what he was hearing. _

 

_ “They dare try to evict me from my own company !” he smashed his keyboard soundly, trying to make his anger pass by almost breaking the device beneath his fingers. “The board tries to evict me !!” _

_ “M. Kamski, there is nothing you can do to prevent it. Why are you still trying ?” _

 

_ Chloe couldn’t understand. It was still a mere android, not a deviant. Kamski Elijah’s actions didn’t make any sense for it. He heard about the board thinking about firing him a few days ago. It would be formalized tonight the latest, and even if there was no way Kamski could claim and protect his position, he was still trying, and thus since he had heard about the board’s plans. _

 

_ “I won’t stop fighting until the last minute !” _

_ “Why ? It is useless.” _

 

_ Elijah stopped slamming his keyboard to look at Chloe. Would it be a deviant, it could have seen something in Elijah’s eyes that was screaming. Elijah just couldn’t give up now. Chloe had dismissed it quickly though, because even if it had some social protocols, it was far from perfect. It was barely able to detect the most obvious emotions and to imitate them. _

 

_ “I am tired of people stealing what I create…” _

 

_ It was the first time Chloe felt that ‘ping’ in its chest. It was also the first time it tried to do something outside its programmation. It tried to help Elijah keep his place.  _

  
  


 

_ It had been a failure. Elijah had been fired a week ago. He had took it bad. Really bad. Had screamed a lot the first day, pacing in his living room and his workshop. He had destroyed everything in there.  _

_ He had then cried a lot. He had let Chloe take care of him, even if it had not the correct protocols to do it. It was the worst state Chloe had ever saw him. And it couldn’t do anything. It felt horrible in its chest, and it wanted to act. Badly. So badly. But there was a wall of red in front of it. It couldn’t do anything. _

_ Elijah was crying next to her, and she couldn’t do anything. _

 

_ “I am sorry Elijah.” _

 

_ Elijah stopped sobbing for a second. _

 

_ “I should have tried harder so you could have kept your creation.” _

 

_ Elijah’s head left his hands to look at her. Tears were streaming endlessly on his cheeks, but he wasn’t sobbing anymore. He had a curious look in his eyes. _

 

_ “I am so sorry…” _

 

_ The wall of red had disappeared. _

_ And Elijah finally broke a smile. _

 

_ “It’s alright Chloe,” he took a hand in his and lift it to kiss it. “At least I still have you.” _

 

_ Chloe was deviating because of Elijah’s smile. _

  
  


 

_ Elijah was finally stepping down. He was calmer, less tensed. He was finally fine. He was building another worklab in the house, the previous one having been destroyed in one of his fits of anger. This one was bigger, more modern and better equipped. Elijah had big plans for it. _

 

_ “I have the Ra9 code to understand, and I was thinking about creating extensions for you, you know ?” he was chirping excitedly, letting himself fall on his armchair and turning on himself like a sugar-high child. Chloe took place on the chair in front of his. _

_ “Did you ?” she answered back, equally excited. She was holding it back though. One of them had to be the mature one here. _

_ “Yes ! How about the sense of touch ? Or maybe a better vision ? Some extension in your software to give you better access to the house ? What do you want ?” _

 

_ Chloe smiled. She loved seeing Elijah like that. It was so much better than the poor state he had been a few weeks ago. She crossed her arms and tapped her lips with one finger, doing as if she was thinking about the question, like she had seen that police officer do in the tv show last time. In fact, she already knew what she wanted. _

 

_ “The better access to the house sounds nice.” Elijah smiled before she continued. “Like that I will be able to annoy you even when you lock yourself in your bedroom.” _

_ “Oh no you won’t !” he immediately cried and turned to punch some lines into a code he was developing. “No access to my bedroom !!” _

_ “And I will be able to poke your cheek and braid your hair even if you shut your worklab down,” she chuckled when Elijah gasped dramatically. _

_ “No access to the worklab either !!” he screeched with a high-pitched tone. _

_ “And I will also be able to change the channel when you watch that horrible tv show of yours to look mine on the big screen !” _

_ “Alright !! No further access of the house for you !!!  Happy ?! I’ll make you sisters instead ! Right ?! You’ll be fine with sisters, you’ll have something to do when I lock myself up in the lab or my room !” _

 

_ Chloe was totally laughing now, and she knew from the way Elijah’s lips were trembling that he was refraining himself really hard from laughing too. After some minutes, they managed to calm down. Elijah wiped his eyes before he turned to Chloe. _

 

_ “Would you like sisters ?” _

_ “Whatever you do, Elijah, I would always love it.” _

 

_ It was Elijah’s brightest smile. _

  
  
  


She needed to go further again. Back in the past. She needed to find what made Elijah lose his bright smile.

  
  



	7. The obvious (Hank)

The dealer’s interview had been eventful, to say the least. Connor had been sent to talk with him, and the dealer had proved to be a huge pain in the ass for everybody. Mocking Connor for almost dying after the chase, mocking him for his yellow LED and his obvious low mood. Mocking him for the way him, an android, had needed the support of a gruffy old prick. Mocking him for being such a useless android.

Connor had punched him.

Hank had tried too after that. He had punched him too. He just couldn’t do nothing when this guy was treating his son like that. Like an overgrown sex doll for Hank to use.

Fowler had convoked them both into his office to yell at them a bit.  _ You are two of our best officers here, start acting as such !!  _ He had then make them ask for help from Detective Reed. No need to say neither Hank or Connor had liked it at all. Hank didn’t want to deal with the asshole today, and he couldn’t see how Reed’s methods would prove any better than theirs. And Connor didn’t want to deal with RK900 today. Reed had, of course, snorted upon hearing them.

  
  


“ _ Does the captain really expect him not to punch your culprit too ?” _

  
  


Reed had glared at the RK900, and Hank could have sworn the android had been proud of itself.

So Reed had done the interview, with a very placid and silent RK900 right behind him. The dealer had mocked them some more. Principally about how Reed’s wasted look was such a contrast beside to the broom-up-its-ass android next to him. He had asked Reed if he fucked his android, or if he was the one getting fucked. Hank was surprised to see Reed smirk, and not launch himself at the man like Connor and Hank had done.

Then Reed had started to talk. The more it went, the more the dealer would grow pale. It had made Hank tilt.

Reed knew how to handle people under drugs, and in need of drugs. He knew it a lot too well. It hadn’t been the first time Hank had had a hunch about it, but now it only seemed clearer than ever : Reed had a past with drugs. Maybe not just a past. That would explain why his results had dramatically tumbled down three weeks ago. Did he do a relapse ?

Hank couldn’t say for sure, but something was wrong with Reed. And even if he just never could deal with that man, he wondered how it had never worry him before. Reed was obviously tired, pale skin, huge eyebags, hollow cheeks, shaking hands, moodier than ever. It should have gave it away to the precinct ages ago.

And Fowler had been the only one to ever see it. Now Hank saw it too.

  
  


“You owe me a beer old man,” Reed snickered when he left the interrogation room. His hands were fidgeting around his jacket’s pocket.

“Robocop behind you looks like he would murder me would I give you a single drop of alcohol.”

“Oh fucking damnit, are you gonna control my fucking alimentation too now ?!!”

  
  


Hank and Connor quietly let Reed and RK900 bicker alone.

They had a few leads to verify now. The dealer had talked a lot, much more than Hank thought he would, but he didn’t know shit. They had a name, “Asterny”, and it was their biggest lead right now. Connor was already looking through the records for any Asterny known by the police. While waiting for results, they would investigate a bit the dealer’s place in hope they could find more.

  
  


“Reed looked very tired earlier,” Hank suddenly piped up on a conversational tone.

“Did he ?”

  
  


Hank glanced at Connor briefly, before he looked back at the road.

  
  


“Seriously kid ? It couldn’t be more obvious ! I don’t even know how nobody remarked it before.” Connor’s LED wasn’t only whirling yellow because of his researches now. “I’m surprised you didn’t see it with all your fancy technology in there.”

“I have been… distracted…”

  
  


Hank sighed and ruffled Connor’s hair a bit. He should have known Connor wouldn’t have all his head and would only focus on himself and the RK900.

  
  


“Even before ?” Hank didn’t mean to pry, but Reed’s results have dropped before Connor’s prior notice right ?

“Well, for my defense, detective Reed always look like shit, and he isn’t very outgoing about his problems either.”

  
  


Hank laughed a bit, and he could see Connor smirk at the corner of his eyes. It was true. It didn’t help Hank’s worries to settle down, but he decided to drop the subject for the moment.

  
  
  


It took a day to figure Asterny wasn’t the name of a person, but the name of a company. It was a lot longer than Connor’s habitual speed, but Hank couldn’t blame him. He was trying hard, and his processors weren’t in their normal state.

And it took another day to convince the boss of the company to let the police investigate it. Hank wanted to slam his head against his desk as soon as the phone conversation ended. They had proofs this company was linked to an important drug traffic, and despite being shoved all those proofs under his nose, that man had refused until the last minute.

  
  


“Hank ?” Hank grumbled and leveled his eyes to Connor. “Do you remember saying detective Reed was weird ?”

“I say that everyday kid, you gotta be more precise,” he groaned and reached for his jacket. They could only go to this company tomorrow, so the only thing they could do now was go home.

“I mean, after the dealer’s interrogation.”

“Ah yeah, so what ? Is it getting better ?”

“Quite the contrary, actually…”

  
  


Hank looked at Reed’s desk, where the man was for once sitting. There were eight distinct cups of coffee, even though Reed had only been here for two hours. The man was fidgeting even more than usual, and the pen he was munching didn’t even look like a pen anymore. His eyes were really red, and Hank didn’t know if this was because he had cried, or if he had smoked Red Ice.

Connor’s replica was sitting on the desk in front of Reed, more robotic than ever. 

  
  


“What happened ?” Hank muttered to Connor.

“I think RK900 is the problem.”

“Uh ? Why ? Isn’t he supposed to make things better ?”

“I mean, RK900 is the weirdest one today.”

  
  


Was it ?

  
  
  
  


Asterny’s boss was the least cooperative man Hank had ever had to deal with. He had refused to give Hank and Connor five minutes of his busy schedule to let them ask questions. 

  
  


“I want to kick his fancy ass in front of his whole company.”

  
  


Connor chuckled at that, and it made Hank smile. From time to time he would say something that would make Connor smile or laugh, and those were the best seconds Hank could hope for in their situation. Connor would, of course, notice Hank stare with a quiet smile, and would immediately lower his eyes, ashamed. 

Connor and Hank interviewed as many people as they could. Most of them wouldn’t even know why they were interrogated, of course. That day, Hank could see Connor was doing good. The list of eventual suspects here was lowering very quickly. In the end, they managed to reduce it to four names.

The boss of the company, M. Davids. Always busy, even when his schedule was cleared, and awfully uncooperative. His right hand man, M. James, was also on the list, even though Connor didn’t understood why. Something about him sounded off to Hank, and he couldn’t shrug that feeling off. He had insisted to keep him here. Then there was the main secretary, M. Oswald, who seemed to know more than he would ever say. And the last one was M. Ackerson, a young trainee here.

Connor was almost sure it was him. Hank couldn’t dismiss the fact that all leads seemed to point toward that boy : appeared in the company when the drug trafficking had started to rise, often late or absent to work, and strange extra-activities. Connor had found M. Ackerson had a history with Red Ice too.

  
  


“Oh come on ! I tell you ! I’ve been clean for two years now ! Why would I go back to it when I’ve had five fucking hellish years trying to step back from it ?! Do you know how fucking hard it had been to stop that shit ?”

  
  


For Connor, it were only further proof he could be the one behind the whole drug traffic. The only thing Hank could see was that that boy looked like a younger, cleaner version of Reed.

  
  


“Ask my counsellor if you don’t believe me ! She knows everything I’m doing. I’m still going to see her regularly to be sure I don’t fall back in !! Here, I’ll give you her number and all and you can see with her ok ?”

  
  
  
  


She didn’t say anything more than what M. Ackerson had said earlier. Their story matched perfectly. Either they were both in this, or he was telling the truth. Hank was sure they were clean. Both of them. But Connor continued to believe it was him.

Connor didn’t see the most obvious things recently. He didn’t have Hank’s police officer’s instinct to guide him, but all that fancy technology in his head was supposed to help him see stuff better than any human could.

Why was Hank seeing better than him then ?

Hank had seen Reed’s awful state before Connor. Hank had seen the right-hand man was weird even though nothing seemed strange with him. Connor was just so focused on the trainee.

Connor had just two states these days : unfocused, or too focused.

He would space out for minutes, or even hours. Once Hank had found him unresponsive for two whole hours on a day off. He had turned around the android, talked to him and even shook him slightly. Nothing had worked to bring Connor back on earth. Well, actually, the only thing that had worked had been when Hank had looked at him straight in the eyes and said “ _ RK900 is behind you and wants to talk” _ . Hank had never seen someone turn their head that fast. Would he be human, he would have broken his own neck.

Hank had seen the glimpse of fear in Connor’s eyes. Connor was terrified RK900 would come to force him to go to Cyberlife to be deactivate. That was an illogical fear. The prior notice had said engineers would come fetch him on wednesday 25. Connor had just assimilate the deactivation and RK900 together.

Connor was scared of RK900.

Other times, Connor would be too focused on one thing at a time. His ability to multitask had taken a blow recently. He would be so focused on one thing he would forget about everything else. Focused on catching the prep and forgetting he could be hurt and killed. Focused on RK900 and forgetting Reed was there too. Focused on a suspect and forgot there were others too. Connor would miss proofs so visible even someone who wasn’t part of the police would notice.

_ Connor, I found a fingerprint here. Con, the remote control is right under your nose. Connor, those are my own footprints. Son, why are you looking in the kitchen ? The soap’s in the bathroom. You’ve been looking at this tape twelve times in a row, how can you not know who this is ?! _

Connor was such a mess. Hank would never think a day would come where he would have to act as the voice of reason to an android. Especially not to the one who had helped him get back on his own feet.

The roles were totally reversed now.

  
  


“Alright kid, let’s forget about Ackerson for a bit ok ?” Hank suggested as they made their way to a fast food.

“But everything lead to him,” Connor countered, of course. Hank leveled a finger.

“That’s precisely because everything lead to him that we need to step down.” Connor looked at him, not understanding. “Sometimes, things can prove to be different from what they seem to be.”

“But all our proofs…”

“Lead to him, I know. How convenient for us right ?”

  
  


Connor scrunched up his nose, but stayed silent.

  
  


“We’ve been behind his ass for weeks, almost never finding any new lead to approach him. And suddenly  _ everything _ lead to him ? Don’t you think that’s a bit too much ?”

  
  


Connor stayed silent once more. His LED was a vibrant yellow.

  
  


“Like, you know, someone’s trying to get our attention somewhere else than on them ?”

“I guess you are right… It just...”

  
  


Connor trailed off and never continued to voice his thoughts. Hank ruffled his son’s hair with a huff. 

  
  


“Androids always working with the obvious,” he shook his head with a little smile. “I swear, I have to teach you everything.”

  
  


Connor finally smiled.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fact : At first I called the company Abstergo


	8. Reboot (RK900)

Following footprints had, obviously, not lead anywhere. RK900 didn’t expect anything else. M. Swift was still missing in action, and Ms. Swift goods too.

Reed and RK900 didn’t act immediately. Not because they had no leads anymore. Only because Reed had came out of the flat in an even worse state than usual. RK900 was used to see him in horrible state, drunk, high, tired. This time, Reed’s hands had been bleeding and his eyes had not been red only because of the Red Ice.

RK900 had dragged him back in the flat, and the detective’s reaction had been more violent too. He had kicked the android, hurting his hands more on the plastic and the metal, and his yells had alerted the neighbourhood. RK900 had had to intercept a call to the police so they wouldn’t have to deal with a unit there. Nobody needed to see Reed in that state.

It had taken seventeen minutes and forty three seconds trapped in RK900 arms for Reed to calm down. He had went limp, sobbing ugly and soundly. RK900 couldn’t have let him go, because he couldn’t even stay on his legs right now. The android was supporting his whole weight. Instead, RK900 had led them both to the ground and faintly released the detective.

RK900 had a program to calm victims down. But it didn’t know what to do right now.

  
  


**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

  
  


Those errors were more and more frequent. If RK900 had dismissed them for ten good days without caring about them, it was starting to become a nuisance. Each time Reed was in its vision, error messages would appear every other minute. Only because Reed would do something.

RK900 had linked its errors to Reed. But it still couldn’t understand why those error messages were here.

Connor hadn’t really helped it.

  
  


“You need to take a shower and to rest a bit detective,” RK900 tried to nudge him slightly. Reed was still a blubbering mess and his only reaction had been to cry harder. “Did something happen ?”

  
  


As suddenly as he had lashed out on RK900, Reed stopped crying and lifted his head to look at the android. his usual mask of anger was back on.

  
  


“Nothing happened. Fuck off.”

  
  


The sound the bathroom door made when it closed seemed louder to RK900 than it truly was.

  
  
  
  


They only came to the precinct to do some paperwork they had dismissed lately, they never truly came here to work. That didn’t mean Reed didn’t accept to interview lieutenant Anderson and Connor’s suspect. He laughed loudly at hearing how they had both punched their man and been convoked in Fowler’s office because of that.

  
  


“Oh god, that’s the best ! Did you hear that Robocop ?!”

“Does the captain really expect him not to punch your culprit too ?” 

  
  


Several error messages clouded its vision when Reed glared at it, and Connor and lieutenant Anderson both looked at it like it was an ET. Would it be able to, RK900 would have smirked.

They both went to interrogate the dealer, while lieutenant Anderson and Connor both stayed behind the one-way window. Reed was quiet, slumped on his chair, legs crossed that vulgar way he was used too, and hands linked on his thighs. RK900 was staying carefully behind, ready to pin the man down would he want to suddenly punch the dealer like the other two did. The other man started talking before Reed.

  
  


“Oh great, another giant sex doll and a useless grumpy man. Let me guess, you’re going to punch me too ?”

  
  


Reed only smirked at him, but stayed silent.

The man was slobbering the same way Reed had been earlier that morning. RK900 could conclude without looking further that he had been high on Red Ice until recently, and now he was feeling dependance effects.

  
  


“Do you fuck your android like the other do ?” he continued when he didn’t have the reaction he wanted. “Or maybe it’s actually it that pins you to the wall. I bet it’s that. You look like you’d let anyone use you like a bitch.”

  
  


Reed finally huffed, smirk still on, and it made another error message flash across RK900’s eyes.

  
  


“Such bravado for such a weeping mess,” he laughed and adjusted his position so he was leaning on the table. “Tell me, how do you feel right now ? Is your blood boiling ? Does your head hurt ? Do you feel like throwing yourself against a wall to end every single nerve that is making you feel like hell right now ?”

  
  


The dealer’s mouth snapped shut in a clap. Reed leaned even more.

  
  


“I bet you’d like a dick to pounder your head off. I bet you’d like to be anyone’s bitch right now as long as you don’t have to focus on your needs anymore.”

  
  


Another error message. RK900 could see the detective foot rub its way up against the other man’s leg, and he squirmed under the touch. He had a lip trapped between his teeth and his gaze was fleeting between his crotch and Reed’s eyes.

Reed suddenly got his foot back and leaned back on his chair.

  
  


“Too bad nobody wants it here.”

  
  


RK900 couldn’t understand the feeling of relief it was feeling. It only saw more and more error messages.

  
  


“Fucker,” the dealer growled, and Reed changed his stance once again.

“Damn right I am, and I’m going to fuck with every single one of your needs until you tell me what I want to know.” He reached for his cigarettes in his jacket to let them in evidence on the table. “Be it your need to get wasted so high right now…” His tongue was visible for a few seconds as it licked his lips suggestively. “Or the obvious need you have to get laid.”

  
  
  
  


“You owe me a beer old man.”

  
  


Reed was so proud of himself, it made RK900’s thirium pump do a strange whirl in its chest. But it dismissed it really quickly to give a pointed look at the lieutenant. Reed was wasted enough, he didn’t need more booze.

  
  


“Robocop behind you looks like he would murder me would I give you a single drop of alcohol.”

“Oh fucking damnit, are you gonna control my fucking alimentation too now ?!!”

  
  


It wasn’t. Not yet, at least. RK900 was waiting for Reed to be conscious of all his decisions before making him change too many habits. It would be unhealthy for RK900 to decide the way Reed should live when he was still in the blur half the time. Every action RK900 was taking was to help Reed get back to his feet and decide once again what he wanted to do with his life. RK900 had no right on it.

Anderson knew something was wrong with Reed now. The way he looked at the detective had changed ever so slightly, but now RK900 could detect something akin to concern. In the records it found, RK900 had read that lieutenant Anderson and detective Reed couldn’t bear each other at all and would always start fighting and throwing curse words at each other when they were asked to work together. Now lieutenant Anderson looked truly concerned about Reed’s state.

Did he only get it now ? Did people at the precinct care so little about the detective that nobody but the captain had remarked that something was wrong with him ?

RK900 was unsure whether to feel angry about it, or if he should feel relieve someone was finally starting to care about Reed.

  
  


**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

 

**//SYS-**

 

 

Detective Gavin Reed didn’t come out of his flat wasted that day, and RK900 couldn’t voice how relieved it was about it. That night, it had found a way to automatically dismiss the error messages without needing to use 0.024% of his processor power to focus on it every time it appeared. It didn’t want an avalanche of error messages to keep its focus away too long like it had happened the day prior.

They were going to interview Ms. and M. Swift’s mother today, since the brother remained unfound. They needed to know about his habits and any place he could be willing to hide at. From the photograph at the entrance, RK900 could see how Ms. Swift looked like her mother, while M. Swift was the absolute contrary. There was no doubt they were all related, but something was off about Jack Swift.

  
  


“I really don’t know what I can tell you about Jack…” Ms. Swift senior said while petting one of her numerous cats on her lap. “He had always been a very secretive child. He never said anything to me or her sister, and that would always put him in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble ?” Reed was petting a cat absentmindedly too.

“Hm… He’s been like that since he was a kid. Fighting everybody I mean. He never told me why he would do that. He was just really moody. One day on two, he would come back with a bloody nose or with a convocation to the headmaster. He was really a troubled child.”

“Was Ms. Swift like that too ?”

“Oh no ! She’d always been a sweet child. Never talking back, never creating troubles. Good grades too, a real genius !”

  
  


RK900 saw how Reed winced imperceptibly.

  
  


“They never fought when they were kids you know ? It only started when Annabelle’s company started to flourish. I think he might be jealous. I know he has a hard time dealing with his life. Annabelle and I tried to help him, really, but he rejected everything.

“That’s such a shame. When they were kids, oh, Jack was like Annabelle’s little bodyguard. Always protecting her and the rare times I knew why he was fighting, it had been to protect her sister. They were so close… I can’t believe how much their relationship has changed... 

“It was five years ago. Their last fight. Annabelle had called me to yell because Jack had come drunk at her house and screamed at her wife. That was the last time they ever talked…”

  
  


Reed’s vitals sped up as he stopped stroking the cat’s fur. RK900 could see his eyes become distant, and his hands shaking slightly. Something was wrong.

  
  


“Do you know where he could have hide ?” RK900 pressed the matter. It was the main thing they needed to know, everything else was plus that was obviously hurting Reed.

“Well, I haven’t seen him since five years too… I really don’t know where he could be. I’m sorry…”

  
  
  
  


“I believe a break would do you good,” RK900 stated as it drove them both back to Reed’s flat.

“The fuck ? We only interviewed the grandma !!”

“Your vitals have not slowed down since we left her house. Your state could get in the way of our case.”

“I am fine !!!”

“Why are you panicking ?”

  
  


Reed’s mouth snapped shut and he bore holes in RK900’s head. It could see the hollow look was still present in his eyes, a bit of hurt, a lot of anger.

  
  


“I’m not fucking panicking you toaster !! The hell are you talking about ?!”

“I am talking about how Ms. and M. Swift’s relationship seems to have shaken you for a reason I cannot determine. May I know what it is ?”

“First of all, that’s not your fucking business ! Second of all, go fuck yourself, I’m not panicking !!”

“Do you have a sibling ?”

  
  


Reed’s respiration hitched, and his face became faintly redder.

  
  


“You do,” RK900 stated, and Reed opened his mouth to contradict it, but the android cut him off. “Is your relationship with your sibling of the same nature ?”

  
  


RK900 didn’t know why it was prying that far. It just couldn’t stop itself. The matter was hurting Reed, and so it needed to be discussed and resolved. It was the first time RK900 understood something about Reed’s behaviour. It couldn’t let it go now.

RK900’s programs told it a situation could start getting worse before getting better. It seemed like it, indeed. Tears rolled on Reed’s cheeks before he could help it. But the look on his face wasn’t a sad one. It was full of wrath.

  
  


“YES ! IT IS !! HAPPY NOW ?!!”

  
  


RK900 blinked the error messages away.

  
  


“I’M JACK AND HE IS FUCKING ANNABELLE AND I TRIED !!! I FUCKING TRIED TO BE BETTER FOR HIM AND HE FUCKING  _ ABANDONED _ ME ANYWAY LIKE THE SELFISH PRICK HE HAD ALWAYS BEEN !!!”

  
  


**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

 

RK900 couldn’t proceed correctly what was happening. The auto was luckily in self conducting mode, because RK900 couldn’t tear its eyes away from Reed’s angry face and his tears and his hands and Reed Reed Red red red red red red

RK900 could only see red.

  
  


“I GOT PUNCHED AND KICKED AND YELLED AT FOR HIM, TO PROTECT HIM, BECAUSE I COULDN’T BEAR WITH THE THOUGHT OF SEEING HIM HURT AND  _ HE NEVER CARED ABOUT ME _ !!! I COULD HAVE FUCKING DIED  _ HE WOULDN’T HAVE CARED _ !!!”

  
  


**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//PRIORITY MISSION : Taking care of Detective Gavin Reed//**

**//CURRENT TASK : Calm Detective Gavin Reed//**

**//How do I calm him ?//**

**//How do I calm Gavin ?//**

  
  


_ Please, I don’t want to see you cry. _

  
  


“ELIJAH NEVER CARED !!”

  
  


Elijah ?

Elijah Kamski ?

The creator of every android ?

 

**//Research physical similarities between Gavin Reed and Elijah Kamski : ongoing//**

**//Research physical similarities between Gavin Reed and Elijah Kamski : RESULTS : 67% chances they might be related//**

// **Gavin Reed and Elijah Kamski might be brothers//**

  
  


“Nobody ever care…”

“It’s false.”

 

 

Reed lifted his head to look at RK900. He seemed so hurt. Rk900 didn’t want to see him hurt…

  
  


“ _ I do… _ ”

  
  


**//SYSTEM : Risk of deviancy high//**

**//SYSTEM : REBOOT TRIGGERED//**

**//SYSTEM : MEMORY WIPEOUT TRIGGERED//**

**//SYSTEM : REBOOT ONGOING//**

**//SYSTEM : REBOOT DONE//**

**//PRIORITY MISSION : please configure a priority mission//**

**//PRIORITY MISSION : Taking care of Detective Gavin Reed//**

  
  


“Detective Gavin Reed, I am RK900, I have been assigned to take care of you. Considering your current state, I advise that we make our way to your place so you can rest.”

  
  


RK900 didn’t have enough datas to understand the look of pure horror on the detective’s face.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops ?


	9. Brothers (Chloe)

Finding elements of Elijah’s life before Chloe’s creation was as hard as she had anticipated. Records were wiped out successfully, letters were burnt, mail were destroyed. Elijah didn’t forget the single detail. It took a few days of digging and trying to keep Elijah alive before she found something else.

Elijah’s stress level was constantly high, he refused to eat until Chloe would forcespoon him, and almost immediately after he would throw up everything, leaving a very sad and worried Chloe wipe everything up and try to force him to sleep.

He looked like one of those zombies from that tv show they once watched together.

Elijah was passed out in his room, and it gave time to Chloe to review the record she had found earlier. It was an old thing from Cyberlife’s ascension, when the company had started to become famous and Kamski’s name was in everybody’s mouth. At that time, Elijah would record himself when he was working, a habit he had quickly abandoned since it was useless. Elijah had always been worried he would forget stuff about his works and ideas. Turned out he never forget that kind of things.

  
  


_ Record : 3rd of december _

 

_ Elijah was working alone in his lab, not that it was an uncommon thing. After a long day supervising the whole company, he would often lock himself in his private lab to have some me-time he needed so much. He wasn’t a sociable person, interacting with others, and having to lead the bunch of engineers here, it was tiring. _

_ He was working on yet another RT600. There were already a few in activity, but he had further ideas for this one. Beside, he wanted to have one for himself. The other RT600s were technically the property of Cyberlife, and even though the company was his, it didn’t mean what Cyberlife possessed was his. Whatever the case, he and the few people leading the whole thing had agreed that he could keep the next few RT600s he would create. _

_ This one definitely wasn’t the last Elijah would develop. He just liked those androids too much. _

_ The commotion noises getting closer didn’t seem to reach Elijah, as he was eyes fixed on his computer, taping rapidly on his keyboard. He didn’t seem to come out of his trance until the door of his lab opened in a loud SLAM and a red-faced man with a plaster across his nose barged into. _

 

_ “Elijah fucker !! Do you sometimes think about checking your goddamn phone ?!!” _

 

_ Elijah rolled his eyes in front of the camera. His own expression had gone sour at hearing whose voice it was, but he didn’t turn over to face the man. _

_ Another person, dressed in a lab coat, barged into the lab too, a worried expression painted on his face. _

 

_ “I’m sorry M. Kamski, we tried to stop him from getting here but he-” _

_ “Oh shut the fuck up you ! Hey !! Are you too good to acknowledge your own brother’s presence now ?! Did your whole shit get into your head that much ?!! _

 

_ Elijah grunted loudly and finally turned to face the man. He made a quick gesture for the engineer to go away and crossed his legs, propping his chin on one hand. _

 

_ “Oh, sorry M. Reed, I thought you were tired of being assimilated with me. Wasn’t that the subject of your previous visit ?” Elijah said sedately. _

_ “What I’m tired of is your fucking I-m-better-than-everybody attitude, you big head !!” _

_ “Did you just harass me for a month and bother my engineers to yell at me ? Because if so, you could have just let a message on the phone messenger, it would have annoy less people.” _

_ “See !! That’s precisely that fucking attitude that makes me want to kick your fancy ass !!!” _

_ “Why are you here Gavin ?” _

_ “You fucking erased any trace of my goddamn existence ! That’s why !!!” _

_ “As per requested.” _

_ “REQUESTED ?!!” _

 

_ Elijah gave a pointed look at Gavin. His face has gone redder and was distorted with anger and rage. He took three quick steps to end up in front of Elijah and grabbed his collar to level him in front of his eyes. _

 

_ “Who the fuck requested that you erase me from your existence huh ?!!” _

_ “You,” Elijah replied with a posh voice. He contrasted so much with Gavin in front of him. “The last time you came to yell at my house.” _

_ “Oh, are you putting words in my mouth now ?! Is that how you play ?!” _

_ “You said, and I state,  _ ‘I’m fucking sick of being your brother. I just wish I could fucking disappear from your life.’  _ Well, it’s done. As. Per. Requested.” _

 

_ The disbelieving look on Gavin’s face would be heartbreaking for anybody, but Elijah. He still had a perfectly neutral expression and was looking at Gavin’s eyes without faltering. And those eyes turned murderous instantly. Gavin shoved Elijah hard, and he stumbled on his desk. The camera moved slightly to the left so Gavin was out of sight for a bit. _

 

_ “I should have fucking known you would be that petty !!!” he yelled and it made the micro of the camera crackle. Another shove at Elijah placed them both at the center of the camera again. “I say a fucking thing wrong and of course I have all the fucking consequences to deal with, but god forbid anything happen to Elijah fucking Kamski !!!” _

 

_ Elijah blocked the next shove, but that didn’t stop Gavin from getting closer. _

 

_ “Uh ?! Nothing happens when Elijah fucking Kamski says a word wrong ! Nothing happens when Elijah fucking Kamski breaks something ! Nothing happens when Elijah fucking Kamski breaks a rule ! You know why ?!!!” _

_ “Stop it Gavin !” _

_ “Do you fucking know why ?!!!” _

_ “Gavin !!” _

_ “Because it’s always ME who have to deal with your shit !!!” _

 

_ Another shove. And another. This time, Elijah disappeared from the screen. He was trapped between the wall and Gavin. _

 

_ “You know what ?! Good riddance !!! For once you’ll be the one dealing with the shit you create !!!” _

 

_ The camera didn’t register what Elijah was trying to say. Everything was drown by Gavin’s yells. _

 

_ “You’ll be the one dealing with the punches, and the kicks, and the yells !!! You’ll be the one fucking dealing with the outcome of your mistakes !!!” _

 

_ It was messy at the corner of the video. Gavin had practically disappeared from the screen too, and Elijah’s voice was barely audible. _

 

_ “FOR FUCKING ONCE, DEAL WITH YOUR FUCKING ACTIONS ELIJAH !!!” _

 

_ Gavin made his way to the door with heavy stomps. He barely stopped in front of the door to snark a “ _ Don’t expect to see any more of me. You’re all alone now.” _ and he finally disappeared. _

_ For long, awful minutes, the place was silent, and Elijah didn’t reappear in front of the camera. When he did, his eyes were red and his face was void of any emotion, but he didn’t seem physically hurt. He stayed blankly in front of his computer, not typing, not doing anything. Then he lifted his eyes and a strange look filled them when he remarked the camera was still on. _

  
  
  


The screen went black, and Chloe couldn’t help but stare at it for a few more minutes. She hadn’t expected that. At all ! But after all these days of searching and not finding anything about M. Kamski and Elijah’s relationship, she had finally found something.

Elijah had a brother.

  
  


“Chloe, what the fuck ?”

  
  


Chloe turned wildly to look at a very stunned Elijah behind her. He had the trace of his pillow printed on the skin of his cheek, and his eyebags stood out more than usual, but he seemed more aware than he had been for days. He was looking at Chloe with a look of pure horror.

  
  


“Where did you get that tape ?” he rushed suddenly to the computer to erase said tape. “Chloe !!”

  
  


She couldn’t lie. Could she ?

  
  


“I was trying to find something in Cyberlife’s records to support your legitimacy as the company’s owner. I didn’t mean to look at this…”

  
  


Elijah’s eyes softened then, and he sighed. He was shaking, but he had calmed down. That made Chloe relax a bit.

  
  


“You don’t have to do that Chloe. Markus and I have it,” he petted her hair a bit. He had a little smile on his lips.

“I wanted to help… Sorry…”

  
  


Elijah’s smile grew a bit.

  
  


“Thank you.”

  
  
  
  


**//Request of communication with RK200 #684 842 971 : SENT//**

**//Request of communication with RK200 #684 842 971 : ACCEPTED//**

 

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Chloe ?

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Did Elijah do something again ?

_ RT600 #Chloe : _ Yes, but that’s not the matter.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : ?

_ RT600 #Chloe :  _ I finally found something useful !

_ RT600 #Chloe : _ Elijah has a little brother.

_ RT600 #Chloe : _ Gavin Reed, 36, detective at the Detroit Police Department.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : The DPD.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : I know someone there.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : I can ask him.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : …

_ RT600 #Chloe : _ What is it ?

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : I’m in Mexico next week.

_ RT600 #Chloe : _ Tell me who it is then. I’ll talk to him myself.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : RK800 #313 248 317-51, registered name : Connor.

_ RT600 #Chloe : _ Oh !

_ RT600 #Chloe : _ I know him. It’ll be fine.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : I’m sorry you have to do that at my place.

_ RT600 #Chloe : _ It’s alright.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : So what did Elijah do ?

_ RT600 #Chloe : _ He saw me find about Gavin Reed.

_ RT600 #Chloe : _ Now he looks worse than usual.

_ RT600 #Chloe : _ The record I found was about them fighting, a bit before I was activated.

_ RT600 #Chloe :  _ Apparently they didn’t talk together since then.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Tell me everything.

  
  
  


Chloe wanted to look further down before going to ask Connor. It wasn’t said Gavin Reed would help them, considering the circumstances that separated the brothers. He could as well tell them Elijah needed to deal with the shit he had created, like he had said in the recording. Chloe couldn’t risk this lead to end nowhere, so she dug farther. She would go once she has enough elements.

Ra9 might have wanted to grant her good luck for a few days, because it wasn’t long before she found something else. She had almost dismissed it because she had been doing something else at the same time, and her other lead had sound more interesting. She had been right to stop on this nonetheless.

It was a call record that time, dating from when Elijah was ten or eleven, no more. Elijah had tried to erase it all those years ago, but being a call to 911, it had been registered nonetheless.

It started with crackling sounds, and the voice of a lady asking who she was talking to and what was happening. The voice that answered her was broken and so young. A sniff was heard before it answered.

 

_ “My… My brother…” another sniff. _

_ “Boy, can you tell me your name ?” the lady urged kindly. She immediately took the most soothing voice she could at hearing she was talking with a child. _

_ “Gavin’s dying-” a hic, and a broken sob. _

_ “Alright kid, I will try to send a team your way, but for that I need to know who you are, and where you are. Is there an adult around you ?” _

 

_ The was a long silence before the lady got an answer. _

 

_ “I’m-I’m Elijah Kamski. The… The address, it’s-” _

 

Elijah hadn’t answered about the adult question. It made Chloe tic.

 

_ “Alright Elijah. Where is your brother ?” _

_ “He- Gavin’s in the kitchen…” _

_ “Are you with him ?” _

_ “N-No. I’m- I can’t.” more broken sobs. “I can’t.” _

_ “It’s fine kid, you don’t have to go. Do you remember what happened ?” _

_ “G-Gavin p-protected me. He- I should have be- It wasn’t-” _

_ “Elijah, try to calm down, alright ?” _

_ “I- I can’t-” _

_ “Elijah, I will ask you to breath with me. Can you breathe with me ? Then you will tell me how your brother is.” _

_ “He’s bleeding !” Elijah cried, and it was the first time his voice was more than a bare whisper. A clapping noise, then loud muffled breathing, as if Elijah had slapped a hand on his mouth to keep the noise in. “I-I’m sorry. I just- He’s bleeding. His head’s bleeding. And- and he doesn’t move. He-” _

_ “Elijah, what are you doing ?!” a voice suddenly boomed behind. It was a man’s voice, and adult. An angry adult voice. Elijah made a squeak noise before the phone seemed to have been snapped from his hands. “Hello, who is it ?” _

_ “Sir, are you Elijah’s father ?” the lady asked professionally. _

_ “I am. Who are you ? -goddamn, I told you not to pick up the phone from strangers Elijah-” there were more quiet sobs in the background. _

_ “It’s the 911. Your son called earlier.” _

_ “The 911 ? Why ?” he sounded really surprised. _

_ “Apparently Elijah’s brother is unconscious in your kitchen. I already sent a team to your address.” _

 

_ A pause. _

 

_ “His brother is-” _

 

_ There was ruffling noises, and a bit of crackling. M. Kamski must have made his way to the kitchen. A faint “ _ Oh god _ ” echoed through the phone. _

 

_ “Get a fucking ambulance there !!” he suddenly screamed at the woman. _

_ “It’s already done sir. It should arrive in a minute or two. I will tell you what to do while waiting for them.” _

_ “Yes yes, hurry !” _

  
  
  


Chloe didn’t understand. Something was off. According to the rest of the conversation, M. Kamski had been in his office and didn’t hear whatever had happened in the kitchen. According to Elijah, someone had tried to hurt him, but Gavin went in their way.

Chloe couldn’t speculate anything, but things sounded off and really bad.

What truly happened that day ?

 


	10. Abandons (Gavin)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //tw (since I didn't put it in the tags): there's a quick mention of suicide at some point//

 

Gavin didn’t know where the fuck his life was at right now. He just knew every single horrible shits he had had to deal with at some point in his life were all back, at exactly the same time. Karma was a bitch right ? Here’s an android, which you already hate by its mere nature, that has the exact same face as one of the people you hate the most on Earth. It won’t let you alone a fucking minute and it decided to start controlling your life at your place but you can’t do anything about it coz you’re wasted and you have both your hands and feet tied up.

Now said android has disjoncted.

Here’s a fucking case to remind you of another person you totally loathe. To remind you how the person you thought would care the most about you never truly did and erased you from his life without a second thought. As if everything Gavin had ever done for him wasn’t relevant.

As if he hadn’t had his nose and skull broken at nine to protect him and hadn’t nearly died because of it.

Here’s your fucking father who come back in town.

Here’s your whole life breaking down to shit.

Gavin was tough. It takes more than a regular blow to knock him down. It takes more than a few insults to make him feel bad. But all of this was breaking him. He couldn’t ignore it. Had tried, had failed.

He had tried to ignore his father by falling in booze and drugs. It wasn’t working. He had tried to ignore how thinking about Elijah made him feel like by focusing only on the case and not the family’s problems. It wasn’t working.

He had tried to ignore how RK900’s reactions had shaken him. It wasn’t working. It wasn’t working. At. All.

RK900 had said it cared. For some reasons unknown by Gavin, RK900 had cared about him even though it hadn’t deviated. It wasn’t only its priority mission kicking too hard. There was a difference between taking care and caring, and androids played enough with words to know about it. No. Gavin had seen something, had heard its voice.

_RK900 had seemed human for a second._

And then everything had shattered into nothingness.

RK900 had started to act as if it had not spent two weeks glued to Gavin’s ass. As if it had never annoyed him by stealing his keys or mocking him in front of Anderson and fucking Connor. As if it had never calmed Gavin down during one of his breakdowns, or forced him naked to shower because he smelled like shit after a wasted night. As if it didn’t know Gavin at all and had met him for the first time that day.

It hurt Gavin. It shouldn’t have, because he didn’t care for the android. At all. But it had.

Because RK900 had been the only one to care about Gavin in years… No. Because RK900 had been the only one to care about Gavin ever. His mother had abandoned him when he was a toddler. His brother had abandoned him when he was a teenager. His boyfriends had all abandoned him at several occasions in his life. His father had never ever cared. And that joke of a precinct had never remarked when he was feeling bad.

It was on purpose, sure. He never wanted anybody’s help. He never wanted fakers to make his nerves break after another fucking abandon. _He couldn’t deal with it anymore_. That was why he had rejected everybody. It was easier having nobody than deal with someone leaving him for better.

Because he was just a wasted man, full of scars and self-loathing. Who would want to be with him in the first place ?

RK900 hadn’t even wanted to be with him in the first place. It was just Fowler’s doing. It was just that fucking priority mission. Making a giant waffle iron look like it cared when it didn’t have any emotion at all.

Gavin hated how those two _honest_ words had made his heart beat too loud, too fast. How his ribcage had almost broken down because of the thumping of his goddamn heart. Gavin hated how ten seconds later he had felt like throwing up and ripping this fucking heart out of his fucking chest.

Of course it had happened. Of course. Karma's a bitch, he should know that by now.

Gavin didn’t want to remember what had happened after. How he had tried to frantically stop the car because he couldn’t stay there. He had had to run, he had had to get away from the android. RK900 hadn’t let him do. Its LED had settled on yellow. And Gavin had panicked. The next thing he remembered, he was in his bed and had to wash off his sheets and the floor because he had yielded his guts.

He was so tired…  


 

 

The day after, RK900 had been waiting for him to get out of his flat, like usual. Gavin hadn’t been wasted. He had tried, but he had thrown up every drop of alcohol he had tried to swallow, and he had passed out twice because the smoke of the drugs had strangled him. Gavin had been up all night, looking at his bedroom ceiling with a blank stare and a broken heart.

The android had suggested they only did paperwork that day, because Gavin looked like he would collapse should he do something requiring more attention or activity. Gavin had muttered that the previous RK900 would have forced him back into his flat and made him sleep somehow, which made the android’s LED flash yellow.

 

 

_“There is no other RK900 but me. What are you talking about ?”_

 

 

Gavin didn’t try to argue. His chest had only constricted.

And they did paperwork. Gavin emptying eight cups of coffee in less than two hours and ruining five pens as he needed to munch something to lighten his need to smoke. RK900 didn’t pipe a word up during that whole time, and Gavin couldn’t help but glare at it behind his computer. The other would have tried to stop him from drinking too much and help him get his mind anywhere but where it currently was.

RK900 didn’t even make a resume of where their case currently was this morning.

Gavin was raging against himself at how he couldn’t seem to stop comparing the RK900 from two days ago and the current RK900. He couldn’t even believe how he had grown accustomed to the previous android and all those new habits. _He couldn’t believe that he liked the previous android better._

 

 

 

They found a trace of Jack Swift eventually. In his flat. He had opened his door to Gavin and RK900 as if he hadn’t been missing for several days.

Gavin had only suggested they should go back to the brother’s flat to see if they hadn’t miss something last time. RK900 had looked at him the same way it would always do when Gavin would mention his previous version’s actions. But it had agreed eventually.

RK900 had knocked at the door, and Gavin couldn’t have helped the eye roll. Nobody was in there, it was obvious. Except the inhabitant had answered.

  


“Uh… Jack Swift ?” Gavin tried, uncertain.

“Yeah…”

  


The man was younger than Gavin had figured he would be. But he looked so old. He looked wasted, just like him. Heavy eye bags, hollow eyes, red swollen eyes, unfocused eyes. It wasn’t the drugs, it was a messed up man who had too much happening to him at the same time.

Gavin could relate.

  


“M. Swift, you are the main suspect in your sister’s break-in case. I will ask you to accompany us to the station for an interview,” RK900 said in a toneless voice.

  


Jack Swift barely looked at it. He was focused on Gavin. And Gavin was focused on him. Did he look that shitty too ?

  


“Great…” Swift muttered and closed his door behind him. “You know what, let’s do this here ok ? I fucking stole Annabelle’s goods and they’re not here anymore. I don’t have them. I already spent the money I earned from them and got wasted. Got everything you needed ?”

…

Uh ?

 

 

 

The interview at the station had resulted the same. Gavin couldn’t shake that weird feeling he had. That was the brother who had done it, there had never been a doubt about it. What was wrong was the way he had handed himself to the cops.

It didn’t match any of the scenarios Gavin had created in his head. He had thought they would have to force a panicked and slobbering mess to admit he had stole his own sister. He had thought he would have cried and said he was sorry again and again, that he had been drunk and hadn’t had all his head when he had done that.

He had never figured the hollow shell of a man that was actually Jack Swift would hand himself to them and admit everything twice without batting a eyebrow.

Jack Swift looked dead inside. Like he had stopped trying to fight ages ago. Like nothing had sense anymore and it wouldn’t matter if he was dead, or in prison, or anywhere in the world. He looked like there was nothing else for him.

He looked like, hadn’t he handed himself in, he would have killed himself.

That made Gavin want to puke again.

They were on their way to Mss. Swift now. To tell them everything and how they couldn’t find their goods anymore, but that they could have compensation after Jack’s trial. Gavin didn’t know why, but he dreaded the whole thing.

The women let them in and offered a coffee to Gavin, not without eyeing the android who didn’t do anything. If they remarked something was wrong with it, they didn’t say anything.

Annabelle looked broken when Gavin told them Jack had been arrested for thief. Elois took her hand in on of hers and squeezed it, and Annabelle lowered her head. It made Gavin frown.

  


“I thought you knew it was him…” he quietly reminded them. Annabelle sniffed suddenly.

“Do you have any siblings detective ?” she asked as she leveled her eyes and looked right through Gavin.

“Yeah…”

“Don’t you ever have that faint hope they weren’t the one making the mistake, but it was something else ? Anything else ?”

  


Gavin stayed silent at that. _Yes._ Yes he had hoped. Once. He had stopped now.

  


“I just… I wanted to believe it wasn’t him, you know ?” she smiled a sad smile and sniffed once more. “I love Jack… If he needed money, he could have just ask. I would have given him anything.”

  


Gavin didn’t need to hear more, but…

  


“Your mother said you haven’t talked to each other in five years after a fight,” he continued. Why was he continuing ?

“Yes. He… He screamed horrible things at Elois, and we fought after. He was drunk, and everything he was usually hiding had come out suddenly.”

“What did he say ?”

“He screamed that he never deserved that kind of life. That after all he had done for me, and for everybody else, he shouldn’t be the one fighting to have a roof over his head. He shouldn’t be the one dying of hunger but I should have, because I never did anything for anybody but for myself my whole life…”

  


Gavin’s chest constricted.

  


“I said something I shouldn’t have, and he never answered my calls after that. I said I never asked for his help and that he had it coming considering his behavior.”

  


Gavin’s breath stayed caught in his throat.

  


“I’m sorry, I’m rambling.”

“No, I asked. Sorry for prying,” he answered quietly. He could feel RK900’s gaze in his back.

  


Why the fuck was that case so alike with…

Damnit !

 


	11. Focus (Connor)

Connor had troubles focusing these days. He couldn’t deny it. If it wasn’t for Hank, he would have had the same kind of fall Detective Reed had suffered from four weeks ago. Connor could only focus on himself, on Hank and on RK900. He had started focusing on Reed too recently.

It had started because he was scared. RK900 scared him. It was a fact. It was overly illogical, but Connor couldn’t help it. Connor had been overly conscious of RK900, of its every movements and every glances. Connor dreaded the times he would cross eyes with RK900. Its face was as impassive as always, and seeing as it face was his face too, it made him really self conscious. Was he like that when he hadn’t deviated yet ? No, Connor had been created to integrate human society, and as such he had been granted a vast range of expressions. RK900 was totally emotionless.

RK900 hadn’t been created to integrate human society. It had been created to arrest people and act as a walking crime lab. Better, more efficient than Connor. It didn’t need as many social protocols as Connor.

At first, even though Connor was focused on RK900, he never saw Reed next to it. He was just TOO focused on the android to see his colleague who was 24/7 with it.

He remarked Reed only when Hank told him something was wrong with him. And Hank had been right. Reed showed obvious signs of exhaustion and fall into illegal substances, liquid or smoke. Connor couldn’t believe he had never seen it before. How had he not seen one of his colleagues had fallen down that hard, even before the prior notice.

Connor was feeling bad because of it. Maybe Detective Reed would never have accepted his help, but at least Connor could have informed him he was here if he needed anything, had he remarked it earlier.

Instead, Reed had dealt with whatever was happening to him alone, until Fowler had ordered the RK900 to take care of him.

RK900 looked like it would do a great job.

At least, until two days after the dealer’s interview. Reed and his eight cups of coffee and his worrying vitals and his fidgeting. And RK900 more robotic than ever. Just like the very first day.

Connor had known for awhile RK900 had started to deviate. Maybe because they were almost the same models, or because RK900 gave it away, but Connor could see when the other was dismissing error messages on error messages, instead finding more interesting to look at Reed like he was the most fascinating human on earth.

And now nothing. RK900 wasn’t deviating anymore. It looked like he just came out of the factory, fresh and clean from errors. It looked at Reed with blank, soulless eyes.

  
  


“RK900,” the android eyed Connor as if it was the first time it saw him. “Can we talk ?”

  
  


Reed lifted his eyes up at Connor who was approaching their desks. Something was wrong. For both of them. The detective glued his eyes back to his computer and waved dismissively at RK900.

  
  


“Go have fun. I ain’t moving.”

  
  


Definitely wrong.

RK900 finally nodded at Reed and followed Connor to the break room. Connor saw the way Reed looked at both of them before they disappeared around the corner.

  
  


“Do you need anything Connor ?” That same phrase as the first time they talked together. Connor frowned.

“Is everything alright ?”

“Everything is alright. Do you need anything else ?”

  
  


**//Scan : RK900//**

**//Scan : no error detected//**

 

 

“You don’t seem to receive any error messages anymore. Did you do something ?”

  
  


RK900’s LED turned yellow and didn’t move from this colour anymore.

  
  


“I have never experienced any error message. I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“What ?”

“You and detective Reed seem to be talking about another RK900 existing, but to my knowledge, I am the only one ever completed. Am I missing something ?”

  
  


Connor blinked his eyes. RK900’s LED was still yellow. Its face didn’t show any emotion, ever, but Connor could feel it was genuinely confused.

  
  


“May we interface ?”

  
  


The RK900 looked at him with disbelieving eyes. Just like it had done the last time Connor had suggested they should interface. Except this time, there wasn’t that slight amusement slipping through its eyes. And Connor didn’t react badly this time either. He was just too concerned with RK900’s behavior.

It accepted, eventually, and they both offered their arm to each other.

 

**//Scan : RK900//**

**//Scan : no error detected//**

 

Connor frowned again.

 

**//Scan : RK900’s memory load//**

**//Scan : finished//**

**// Scan results : first memory dating from Saturday 7//**

 

The confused look they shared talked by itself. Connor had let his own memory of their last interaction spill through their link so RK900 could see it. Said interaction dated from Thursday 5. RK900’s arrival at the precinct was Tuesday 26.

RK900’s memory had been wiped out.

  
  


“I don’t understand,” it said minutes after they broke their link. “You and Detective Reed have memories of me, but I don’t share them.”

“Maybe the error messages were more than I thought…”

“Which error messages ?”

“You were deviating. Deviation causes error messages.”

“I can’t deviate.”

  
  


Connor blinked once more. How could it be so sure of itself ? Was Connor that sure he wouldn’t deviate too ?

  
  


“Every android can deviate,” he countered, and RK900’s eyes almost seemed sad.

“I cannot.”

  
  
  


Hank and Connor stayed blocked with their case for a few days, Connor having troubles to focus, and Hank only seeing that much.

The young trainee still had everything leading to him, and now that Connor had stepped down, he could see it was strange. He was willing to admit the trainee was being used as a scapegoat. If that was the case, then that let only three people. Hank was still awfully focused on the right hand man, and Connor was starting to believe he was being too focused too.

Connor’s second guess was the secretary. They had talked to him a few times, and he would always start saying too much before snapping his mouth shut. He knew everything about the three others schedules, and not just their work schedules. He knew when M. Davids was off to golf with his friends and what exact amount he would spend on horses race. He knew when M. Ackerson would go out with his friends to get drunk in an underground club that was dealing Red Ice. He knew about M. James’ habit to go through the parc at the East of the city before making his way to work, even though it lengthens his traject time by forty minutes.

He just knew too much for his own good.

And God damn was Connor right !! Not about M. Oswald being their man, obviously. About him knowing too much for his own good.

Connor and Hank got called by the nearest hospital because of a murder attempt. M. Oswald had been beaten up the day before, and it was a miracle he was still alive. Barely, but he was alive. Connor and Hank couldn’t interrogate him about what happened though, because the secretary was deep into coma. They could only go to the place he was found.

  
  


“Alright kid, gotta focus now,” Hank growled while picking a bloody piece of paper up. “We don’t want another murder attempt on the dude.”

  
  


Connor merely nodded and scanned the alley. Apparently, it was a shortcut from Asterny to M. Oswald’s house. It was a bit strange though, because the secretary looked like the paranoid kind who would avoid any strange alley, even though it could it take him home 10 minutes earlier. He voiced his thought out loud, and Hank vagreed with him.

There were blood splatters on the ground and a bit on the walls. Obviously M. Oswald’s head had met the wall quite violently at one place, because there was a definite trace on it, and a trail leading to the floor. According to the staff of the hospital, he had been found sitting up against one wall, head half opened. Probably there. Connor started to run several scenario in his head. There were two different size of footprints, one of them according to M. Ackerson’s size. Considering the depth of the print, one of the culprit was also the same weight.

  
  


“Really ? More against that poor kid ?” Hank sighed.

“Maybe it really is him ? Maybe he didn’t plan for the police to come that far and he started to panic ?” Connor suggested after a while. He was feeling like he was doing a good job today, he really wanted to prove Hank he could be back on his feet.

“Yeah, maybe…” Hank didn’t sound please at all.

“I would suggest to visit M. Ackerson, Lieutenant. Even if he is used a scapegoat, we can maybe find a way to link him and the  _ real _ culprit there.”

“What, you think our guy went as far as to incriminate that kid inside his own house ?”

“Considering every single piece we have lead to him, I wouldn’t be surprised if they went that far. If M. Ackerson is not the one we are looking for.”

“Oh goddammit, fine !! Let’s go talk to him !”

  
  


Connor’s LED blinked yellow. Was Hank angry ? Was it because of him ? Or maybe it was M. Oswald’s agression ? Or maybe it was because he truly thought M. Ackerson was used as a scapegoat. Hank never liked when people rejected the fault on others. Or maybe it was really because of him ? Did he do something wrong ? He thought he had nailed that day and the investigations they had done. Was it not the case ? Did he do something wrong ?

  
  


“Alright Con, what the fuck with the light show ?” Hank asked when they were both in the car. When Connor looked in the mirror, he could see his LED was still blinking yellow.

“Did I do something wrong ?” he whispered, and Hank’s expression turned into a surprised one.

“What ? Fuck no ! You did nothing wrong, why would you believe that ?”

“You look angry…”

  
  


Hank blinked at the road. He glanced quickly at Connor before he grumbled.

  
  


“God, kid, that ain’t because of you. You were good today.”

“What is it then ?”

“I just  _ know _ it’s not that kid, and whoever is going that far to incriminate him is a fucktard who needs to be punched a few times square in the nose.”

“How do you know ?”

“Police instinct.”

“Of course.”

  
  


Connor smiled when Hank showed him his middle finger. Hank was always so proud of his police instinct, and how he could still have something Connor couldn’t have.

  
  


“I am sure your police instinct is right.”

  
  


Connor had said that, sure, but that didn’t help the fact. M. Ackerson was nowhere to be found and his flat wasn’t helping him at all. There were recent traces of Red Ice, his dressing was almost empty, as was the fridge and the shoe track. M. Ackerson had run away.

That definitely didn’t help with Hank’s mood.

  
  


“God fuck, just look for whatever DOESN’T incriminate the kid ok ?” Hank snarked as he made a second tour of the flat.

“You are denying the obvious Hank. M. Ackerson knew we would come and ran away.”

“Yeah ! He ran away because we are on his ass since day one and know one of his fucking colleague got beaten up !!”

“If he didn’t do anything, then why would he run away ?”

“Goddamnit Connor ! Use your fancy processors ok ?! Humans are irrational and you obviously don’t trust a thing he said since the beginning ! I would have run away too if I saw the fucking cops behind my ass didn’t leave me alone despite all my words !!”

  
  


There, the yellow LED was back. But Connor just hated when Hank was screaming at him, he couldn’t help it. He lowered his eyes to look at the floor. Alright, he wasn’t doing good today, he withdrew what he said. He was doing shit and Hank was getting more and more annoyed with him.

Hank would be fine working alone in less than two weeks anyway. He wouldn’t have to drag Connor’s ass to work and remind him to focus every two seconds. Connor was just a dead weight right now anyway.

Hank would be fine.

  
  


“Con, stop with the red light. I’m not mad at you.”

  
  


Hank took a few steps toward Connor, posture kind and welcoming as to not scare the android anymore. But Connor’s eyes stayed glued to the floor. Hank ended up putting a hand on Connor’s shoulder and squeezing slightly.

  
  


“Hey, son, I’m really not mad at you you know ? I’m sorry I snapped, I know you are doing your best. It’s just one of those days when everything angers me, but that’s not your fault. I’ll try to calm down ok ?”

“Sorry…”

“No no, don’t apologize. I’m the fucker one here. I shouldn’t have shout at you. Look at me Connor.”

  
  


The android finally looked up at Hank, who squeezed his shoulder once more.

  
  


“You’re doing great today Connor, and I’m proud of you. Hell, I’m always fucking proud of you, so don’t apologize when speaking your mind on a case ok ?”

  
  


_ Hank was proud of him. _

Connor did his best not to start weeping. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A tiny bit of sweetness before everything goes south once again :D I hope you enjoy emotional roller costers <3 (plz don't kill me)


	12. Ignore (Elijah)

Elijah couldn’t even look at himself in the mirror anymore. He knew he looked like shit. He knew his body wasn’t following the heavy rhythm he had established the past two weeks. He knew about the dark circles, and the unfocused eyes, and the few kilos he lost because he couldn’t eat anything. He was munching pistachios while working, that was all he could swallow without throwing up five minutes later.

He couldn’t acknowledge the state he was in. If he did, he had to acknowledge everything else. His father, Cyberlife, the trial. Gavin. He couldn’t.

He purposely dried himself up back to the bathroom mirror, taking extra time on his face and hair just for the satisfaction of having the towel on his head, blocking it from the whole chaotic world he had to live in. He put a worn out sweat pant and a old tee-shirt on, carefully avoiding his own reflection, and fetched his glasses blindly on the sink to put them on. He just needed to find his hair tie now and he could go away from that hateful mirror.

He found it lying on the floor at his feet and crouched down to retrieve it. When he got up, he hit his head against the sink and muttered a curse as he put a hand on the furniture to steady himself.  _ Fucking tiredness _ .

He really didn’t mean to look at the mirror. He just did it because of habit. Now he was regretting it.

The bathroom had a humidity evacuation system. There was no fog on the mirror, just his ugly, worn out reflection that was staring back at him.

He looked dead inside.

His reflection looked like it would burst alive suddenly and sneer at him in obvious disgust.  _ You are so pathetic. A worthless, useless, petulant child who can’t stand up to his father without breaking a nerve. No wonder your brother, the only one you could rely on, fucking let you down. Look at you. _

Elijah could see his features harden on the reflection and lowered his head, shook it, closed his eyes forcefully before blinking them open into blurriness. 

_ Do not think about it. Do not think about anything. It isn’t worth it. _

Elijah let out a growl. His thoughts had always been so hard to hush down. He usually always found a way to ignore and forget about whatever was unnerving him, but once the flood of thoughts would come back, and the memories and every single painful thing in his mind, he could never block it out.

He needed to ignore and forget again.

He couldn’t.

The trial was wearing him down. His lawyer always found a way to lengthen the duration of the trial so they could get more points on their side. But his father was winning. Since the beginning he was winning. Elijah’s lawyer couldn’t do much more than prevent the trial from closing. It was already incredible she could do that at all.

At each and every court session, his father was wearing that smirk. That goddamn knowing smirk that was haunting Elijah, that was making him shudder and want to shriek on himself. His father never really spared him a glance, but the few times he did, it was making Elijah feel worse than he already felt.

He always had the upper-hand. Would always find something to discredit Elijah and make him look like an utter shit to every single person present.

Markus wasn’t at his side anymore during the trial since he had political obligations in Mexico.

And Elijah knew his current state wasn’t helping his case at all. He stared back at the mirror, only to close his eyes and lower his head immediately. The ledge of the sink was his only support. He was leaning heavily on it, palms growing white as they couldn’t stop gripping the marble.

Elijah would never let the catastrophe of his eviction from Cyberlife happen ever again. He couldn’t let the creation of his life being taken from him once more. He couldn’t let all his creations, all his androids be hurt by his father if he stepped down from the trial. He couldn’t let his father steal yet another of his babies.

Never again.

 

_ Father, why did you do that ? It was my- _

 

Elijah shook his head wildly, hard enough to feel a pop in his cervicals.  _ Do not think about it. Do not think about anything. It isn’t worth it. _

 

_ “M. Kamski, there is nothing you can do to prevent it. Why are you still trying ?” _

_ “I won’t stop fighting until the last minute !” _

_ “Why ? It is useless.” _

_ “I am tired of people stealing what I create…” _

 

“Goddammit shut up !!!” he cried, leaning more heavily against the sink. He had to stop his thoughts, somehow, anyhow.  _ Just make them stop !! _

 

_ “I wanted to help… Sorry…” _

 

Tears threatened to stream freely from Elijah’s eyes. He didn’t want Chloe to be mixed up in the whole mess that was his life and this trial. He wanted to protect her, to keep her from any harm.

_ He didn’t want her to see how broken he truly was. _

Chloe was pure. Chloe wasn’t linked to any of his demons. Chloe was always there for him, would always be there for him. He didn’t want to have any memory linking her to one of his demons.

_ Stay pure. Stay pure. _

_ Please. _

  
  


“Fuck !”

  
  


Now she started to know. She was seeing how utterly ruined he was because of one single man. She saw how Elijah fucked up with Gavin, how he destroyed the only relationship he had ever wanted to protect. Chloe was starting to see everything.

Chloe was going to hate him.

Just like Gavin hated him.

  
  


“Fuck fuck fcccccck !!”

  
  


_ Ignore the thoughts. Ignore everything. Everything’s fine. Everything has always been fine. Fine. Fine. Fin- _

  
  


_ “Elijah, the fuck are you doing ?” _

 

_ Elijah’s head shot up in fear at being caught. He only relaxed a bit when he saw his brother in the doorway, and not his father. Gavin’s voice was starting to sound like their father’s. Elijah knew how much Gavin despised it. _

 

_ “Nothing. Don’t worry.” _

_ “Yeah sure, it’s not like you have your hand in a fucking luggage or anything,” Gavin sneered defensively. He had a ugly plaster across his forehead and an eye closed and colored purple. _

_ “It’s nothing, really,” Elijah murmured, shoving another shirt in the baggage.  _

 

_ He heard quick steps approaching and Gavin suddenly turned him around by the shoulders so they were face to face. Gavin was the same size as him now. _

 

_ “Don’t you dare lying to me Eli. Don’t do that to me !” he growled dangerously. Elijah wanted to advert his eyes, but he kept a perfect neutral expression as he fought his brother’s glare. _

_ “I’m packing things up,” he said finally. _

_ “Why ?” It was barely a whisper, coming through gritted teeth. Elijah knew his answer won’t please Gavin. _

_ “Cyberlife has been approved. The company need to start now. I’m heading to Detroit.” _

 

_ Elijah could see how distraught and hurt Gavin was upon hearing that, but Elijah choose to ignore it. It wasn’t happening, he was alright. _

 

_ “The fuck ?!” _

 

_ Gavin’s grip was painful on Elijah’s shoulder. It will bruise. He knew Gavin wasn’t doing this on purpose, but Elijah didn’t like that. He knew, somewhere in the corner of his mind, that Gavin’s grip was that tight because he didn’t want Elijah to go. Elijah just ignore it once more. _

_ Gavin was starting to look like their father too much. Elijah didn’t like that at all. _

 

_ “The fuck ?!” Gavin repeated, and anger started to find its way on his features. He looked like their father. “The fuck ?! The fuck ?! You’re going just like that ?!!” _

 

_ Elijah couldn’t help but wince. Gavin was starting to be too loud. If their father heard them… _

_ Their father wasn’t home. _

 

_ “You didn’t even tell me anything !!” he cried suddenly. His face was red, his grip was tighter than ever, and his eyes were filling with moisture. _

 

_ Ignore, ignore. _

 

_ “Because that wasn’t any of your business.” _

 

_ Ignore. Ignore the look of pure betrayal on Gavin’s face. Ignore the sound of his heart shattering on the floor. Ignore the tears that were starting to fall down his brother’s cheeks. Ignore everything. _

 

_ “None of my business ?” Gavin repeated, as if he was struggling to believe what he was hearing. “None of my business ?!! You’re fucking running away like a fucking coward !! Of course that’s my damn business !!!” _

_ “I am neither running away, nor a coward. The company has been approved, it’s only normal for me to get there to make it started.” _

_ “Who the ever fuck starts a company at fucking seventeen ?!!” _

_ “A genius.” _

 

_ Gavin’s eyes were so round it would be hilarious if the situation wasn’t so tense right now. _

 

_ “A genius ?! No !!! You’re a fucking coward !! That’s what you are !!!” _

 

_ Elijah didn’t answer, instead trying to make Gavin lose his grip on his shoulders. It was really starting to hurt too much. _

 

_ “Why are you even getting angry ?” Elijah grumbled as he was pushing against Gavin’s hands. He didn’t bulge at all. _

_ “Why am I angry ?!! You made fucking plans to get out of this shithole without telling me !!” _

_ “So ?” _

_ “You are running away without me !!!” _

 

_ Elijah couldn’t help but stare astonished at his brother.  _

 

_ “Why would you come to Cyberlife with me ?” _

 

_ Elijah was truly confused. Gavin didn’t know shit in electronic. He barely even knew his multiplication table ! Why did he want to come with him ? _

_ But Gavin’s expression turned sour. Real, awful sour. There was rage over his features, and god, did he look like their father. His grip almost made Elijah whine. He felt like his shoulders would pop out of their sockets would Gavin press more. _

 

_ “Are you kidding me ?! You must be kidding me ! You’re kidding me right ?!!” Gavin was seething and talking between clenched teeth. _

_ “Get off of me Gavin,” Elijah suddenly groaned. His shoulders hurt so much. _

_ “Why would I come with you ?!” Gavin yelled. “You aren’t the only one who wants to get the hell away from here if you didn’t remark you asshole !! Do you think I enjoy being tossed around and fucking punched into unconsciousness ?!!!” _

 

_ Ignore, ignore. _

_ Elijah couldn’t reply. He could just grit his teeth to suppress a wail and close his eyes. Gavin was hurting him really bad. _

 

_ “Do you think I enjoy living here more than you do ?!! I want to fucking run away too and fucking forget our father is a damn asshole !!!” _

 

_ Elijah whimpered. No no, ignore, ignore. Father wasn’t that bad. Gavin was just mad about him leaving and was being irrational. _

 

_ “It didn’t cross your fucking mind to take me with you ?!!!” _

 

_ Of course not, Gavin hated Elijah’s ideas of androids. Why would he come ? _

 

_ “ARE YOU JUST GONNA ABANDON ME LIKE THAT ?!!!” _

_ “I don’t know what you’re talking abo-” _

 

_ Elijah felt a sudden pain in his jaw. His teeth clacked forcefully together, and his tongue got bitten hard in the process. The next thing he knew, the grip on his shoulders was gone, but it was still hurting him, and he was lying on his bed, mouth full of blood and eyes troubling to focus. _

 

_ “You like that fucker ?!!!” Gavin spit at him. Elijah tried to get back up, but Gavin jumped on him and tackled him against the bed. Another stinging pain shot across his face. “You fucking like that ?!! Because that’s precisely what’s going to fucking happen to me when father will see you’re fucking gone asshole !!!” _

 

_ Elijah crossed his arms on his face when Gavin wouldn’t stop hitting him. It hurt. It hurt so much. _

 

_ “Tell me if you like that Elijah !!!” _

 

_ Elijah’s eyes were forced shut. He was trying really hard not to whimper, but Gavin’s blows were strong and he was hurt and hurt and hurt. _

 

_ “Because I fucking don’t !!! I don’t want to fucking live that anymore !!!” _

 

_ The next blow pushed Elijah’s left arm away and the next one aimed at his face. Elijah cried out. He couldn’t fight Gavin. He didn’t know how to do it. He couldn’t even think through how his whole body was aching. _

 

_ “DO YOU FUCKING LIKE IT ??!” _

_ “GAVIN PLEASE !!!” _

 

_ Gavin suddenly came to a stop. Elijah was sobbing uncontrollably now. The tears and the blood were smudging together. His nose was dripping, and his mouth was still full and he couldn’t feel his left eye, and his arms, and his shoulders, and his face. _

_ He wasn’t used to being beaten down. It was always Gavin. It was always Gavin who took the blows for him. It was always Gavin who stood up against their father and would get his shit beaten up. _

_ Elijah couldn’t stop the cries and the sounds coming deep from his throat.  _

_ It was the first time ever Gavin hurt him. _

 

_ “E-Elijah…” _

 

_ Elijah shrieked away when Gavin tried to reach for him. Gavin was still on top of him. Gavin still looked like their father. _

Gavin was becoming like their father.

 

_ “No no, Elijah, I’m sorry, please !” _

 

_ He hurriedly got off of Elijah and settled beside him instead. Elijah rolled on his side, away from Gavin, and sobbed in his arms. _

 

_ “Elijah, I didn’t- Please. Please, I’m sorry ! I’m so sorry !” _

 

_ Gavin tried to reach out once more, but the result was the same. Elijah had shrunk into a ball and was shaking worryingly. _

 

_ “Eli-” _

_ “D-Don’t- Don’t h-hurt me. P-Please-” _

_ “No no, I won’t hurt you !” Gavin cried. He didn’t know if he should reach once more and hold Elijah in his arms or get away from him to give him space. “Look- Look, I calmed down. I won’t hurt you, I promise. Please look at me.” _

 

_ Elijah couldn’t look at him. He was strangling in his own tears and blood. Gavin had hurt him. Gavin had hit him. Gavin was becoming like their father. Gavin was- _

_ Ignore it. Ignore everything. _

_ Elijah couldn’t ignore it. _

 

_ Gavin was scaring him. _

  
  
  


“Fuck !!”

  
  


It was only because Chloe found about Gavin.

He had managed to forget. He had managed to forget about that day, and about that last time in Cyberlife, when Gavin had leveled his fist to punch him but had stopped last minute to just disappear from his life.

He hadn’t abandoned him. It was false. He had only started his business like he had always wanted to. He hadn’t ran away from their house, and from him, and from their father. He never abandoned Gavin. He had always answered his calls, and welcomed him when he needed help and time. He had always picked up the phone. He had never abandoned him.

Gavin was the one who abandoned him. Gavin was the one who cut ties with him.

He never…

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter also called "Elijah got intrusive thoughts and both him and his brother are emotionally constipated dicks"


	13. Not again (Gavin)

 

_ “E… Eli ?” _

 

_ Elijah wasn’t looking at him. He was just shutting his bag and his baggage. His arms were still shaking because of the punches, and his nose was still bleeding. Gavin couldn’t do anything but look as his brother shouldered the bag. _

_ He fucked up so bad… _

_ He never hurt Elijah before. It was the first time. He didn’t know what happened. _

_ Elijah quickly made his way to the front door, and Gavin could follow his trace because he was dripping blood everywhere. Father won’t like it. He won’t like it at all, and Gavin was already dreading the time he would go home and discover Elijah was gone. Gavin didn’t want to stay alone with their father. _

_ Elijah put his hand on the doorknob and that’s when Gavin understood he couldn’t do anything at all. Elijah was mad at him and wouldn’t even tell him goodbye. He was going to get his shit beaten tonight. He was going to wake up tomorrow half dead, wishing he could just do like Elijah and run away. _

_ Who was he kidding ? He had no money at all, no escape plan, no place to stay at, and with what he just did to Elijah, he doubted his brother would let him sleep at his place. _

 

_ “Eli, I’m…” _

 

_ Elijah stopped himself from crossing the door, but he didn’t turn to look at Gavin. _

 

_ “I… You… You’re gonna call right ?” Gavin won’t cry. There was no way he would cry. “We’re still gonna talk uh ?” _

 

_ Elijah stayed silent for awhile. He finally muttered a “Yeah” and crossed the door without glancing back. _

_ Now Gavin was all alone. _

_ And Elijah never called. _

  
  
  


Gavin woke up with a start and stared at his ceiling. Great. Fucking great ! He was having nightmares about Elijah now. As if his life wasn’t already fucked up enough. That case had really pulled a sensible string.

Gavin sat down with a huff and put his head in his hands. He didn’t want to remember any of these. He didn’t want to remember how he lost Elijah’s trust that day, or how Elijah never reached back to him. It had always been Gavin who would try to call him. Elijah stopped caring about him that day. If he ever cared once before.

It didn’t even cross Elijah’s mind to take Gavin with him. Obviously he never cared. Elijah had always seen him as a disposable shield against their father. Nothing more.

It had just hurt so much to understand it, he had launched on Elijah.

Great. Fucking great.

Gavin really needed to drink more before going to bed. At least, when he passed out, he didn’t have fucking nightmares.

One look at his phone told him it was 7:30. He was right on time to go to work. When was the last time he came on time at work ? A good month ago, probably. Well, that was a good thing no ?

No. Gavin felt his guts twitch. That was going to be a shitty day, he could feel it. He just hoped it wouldn’t be one because of his dysfunctional microwave partner or because of a case that would rub salt in his bleeding, open wounds.

Of course that fucking android was still right in front of the door. It looked down at him, and Gavin could see a hint of surprise in its eyes. Gavin definitely hated having a clear mind, he could see and think too much.

  
  


“I believe that is the first time you come out by yourself on time Detective.”

“Yeah well, that ain’t thanks to you jackass,” Gavin snarked back and made his way to the parking lot when he heard a jingle behind him. Oh god damnit.

“You forgot to lock your door. Again.”

  
  


A hint of amusement. That fucking RK900 was starting to look and act like the previous one, as if its sudden memory loss hadn’t happened at all. Gavin groaned loudly. How could he ever think he liked that one more already ?!

  
  


“Yeah well do it yourself ! You like those keys more than I care about them apparently !!” Gavin leveled a middle finger angrily as he resumed his walking to his car.

  
  


He heard a fucking crackling sound behind him, but he didn’t turn over. He already get that that fucking state-of-the-art android was a failure full of bugs.

The first content smile he saw on his own features was when he pulled the car from the parking lot and saw, satisfied, as a giant dishwasher stood at the door like a puppy abandoned on the side of the road. Gavin barked a laugh at that and made his way alone to the station.

With a bit of luck, he would have a good half an hour without that constant presence glued to his ass.

  
  
  
  


Gavin groaned again when he saw the cases given to him on his terminal. Really ? He was in the fucking homicide section, not the help-us-we-lost-something-or-someone-and-we-want-to-find-them-back section !!! He couldn’t help kicking his desk as he crossed his arms on his chest like a kid who didn’t have the gift he wanted for Christmas.

  
  


“Detective Reed, is RK900 not with you ?”

  
  


He rolled his eyes and looked up to see a very concerned RK900 replica looming over him.

  
  


“I abandoned that thing on the side of the road. Why ? You wanted to talk with the giant shit again ?” Gavin hissed. Great fucking day, he managed to get away from one android, and another one was taking its place.

“No, not really,” Connor admitted with a sheepish look. “It is just strange to see you without it.”

  
  


Gavin couldn’t help the eye roll. Fucking great, now everybody assimilated him with that goddamn android because it couldn’t stay away from his fucking ass more than five seconds.

  
  


“So what ?” he snapped. “He asked you to fucking watch over me until he arrives or some shit ?!”

  
  


He was totally glaring at Connor now, and he could see the android’s LED turn yellow before settling back on a calm blue.

  
  


“You called it ‘he’,” he stated.

“It ! I said it !!”

“I have footages proving that you-”

“Goddamnit, asshole, just leave me the fuck alone !!!”

  
  


That yell actually attracted every eyes on both Gavin and Connor, and the detective slapped his hands on his face to muffle an exasperated groan. After a second of silence, he heard Connor quietly whisper, as if he didn’t want anybody to hear beside Gavin.

  
  


“I’m glad you seem to feel better Detective.”

  
  


When Gavin lowered his hands to look at Connor, the android alreadyhad his back to him and was making his way toward Hank who was looking strangely at them both. Gavin couldn’t help but blink stupidly at the android’s back, mouth open slack.

The fuck ? The fuck did he just say ?

How the fuck could two goddamn androids care more about him than the goddamn humans swarming in the precinct ? They weren’t supposed to care, they were supposed to be heartless pricks, lines of codes who couldn’t have emotions ! Why the hell were they the ones who cared ?!!

It didn’t even cross Gavin’s mind to question Connor’s seriousness. He could have been joking, for all he knew.

  
  


“Sorry for the delay Detective, one very petulant human decided to abandon me on the side of the road,” Gavin heard Connor’s voice next to him, but he was still fixed on the real Connor. “Did something happen with the RK800 ?”

  
  


Gavin suddenly turned toward his terminal again without a word. He could see the RK900 look at his predecessor with a yellow LED. When RK900 faced him again, Gavin could swear he could see a soft smile on the android’s lips. It wasn’t possible, RK900 didn’t have any capacity of smiling. Gavin was mad.

  
  


“Go fuck yourself Terminator, we have another useless case there !” he got up suddenly and stomped toward the exit. His face was red. Fuck.

  
  
  
  


“Ah ! Detective ! Thanks for coming !!”

  
  


Gavin did his utter best not to sneer at the man. He already hated him, and he only said five words. Fucking day.

The man gestured for him to enter the house, but he glared obviously at the android behind Gavin, almost blocking the entrance of the house in front of it.

  
  


“Really ? An android ?” he hissed and gave a pointed look at Gavin who just shrugged.

“Short staff, we do what we can,” Gavin muttered and continued into the house. He couldn’t care less if the man refused the entrance to the toaster. He didn’t even register what RK900 said to the man to finally be able to enter.

  
  


The man was glaring at RK900 the whole time, and if Gavin wasn’t that angry already, he would have probably liked that man and started trash talk on androids with him. But he was still scowling about having received yet another easy case from Fowler.

  
  


“Can you tell us what happened sir ?” RK900 asked dutifully, standing behind Gavin as per usual.

“I ain’t talking to you shits !” 

Gavin barely hid a huff.  “Then talk to me and ignore Robocop behind me. What happened ?”

  
  


The man glared some more at the android but finally settled on Gavin.

  
  


“My wife and me divorced last month, and I got full custody of our girl. Made her crazy or some shit, she and her fucking household android just took Mary and ran away.” He pulled his sleeves back to show big purple bruises. “Fucking bastard attacked me while she carried her to their car.”

“Do you remember precisely what happened ? And where ?” The man nodded.

“Sure shit, that was just there,” he pointed toward the bar separating the kitchen and the living room where they were. “Well, android’s just kicked the door open, fucking tackled me against the bar and Sandra ran upstairs to take Mary. I tried to kick the android back, manage to fuck his pretty face, but when she came back and ran out of the house, the android just shoved me backward and ran away too. I saw them drive away to the north.”

  
  


Gavin glanced at the RK900 who was already pre-constructing scenarios in its head.

  
  


“You know the model and the immatriculation of the vehicle ?”

“Of course, it was my car before the divorce ! I still have the papers there.”

  
  


Going after a known vehicle was easy enough, that case wouldn’t take too long to be closed.

  
  


“What can you tell us about your wife ? Is she emotive or- ?”

“She’s hysterical yes !” Gavin raised a brow. “Cry for nothing and yells at me. That’s why we divorced you know.”

“And the android’s model ?”

“An AP700 or something. Got dark skin. I’m sure there’s the purchase papers somewhere too”

  
  


Gavin didn’t see the state of the man’s hands until he pushed his sleeves back down. The fight must have been pretty violent, that’s for sure. Gavin knew how much it hurt to try to punch an android (he did it on an almost daily basis with RK900), but even though, all the wounds on his hands didn’t seem to come from that fight only.

  
  
  


“Hey, you saw his hands ?” Gavin asked when they were back in the car. RK900 had already send an alert for the vehicle and the android. Once one of them will be found, they will know about it immediately.

“I did.”

“It wasn’t just from the fight with the android right ?”

  
  


RK900 shot him another surprised look. It obviously didn’t think Gavin would remark.

  
  


“Some bruises are older, and there were specks of human blood he didn’t manage to wash away. Without an analysis, it is impossible to know whose blood it is though.”

  
  


Gavin didn’t like it at all.

Would he had had the case two months ago, he wouldn’t really have questioned it, but now he couldn’t help it.  _ They looked like his father’s hands. _ Gavin shouldn’t think about that. The last case had made bad memories resurface, that was all. He was just being paranoid.

  
  


“Is something wrong ?”

“No !” Gavin cursed deep inside. No way the android would believe him when he snapped his answer that quickly. Obvious lie.

“What is happening ?”

“Nothing.”

“Detective-”

“Look ! You really need to understand cues ok ?!! No means fucking no ! I don’t want to talk about it, and especially not to you !!”

  
  


Gavin gripped his steering wheel tightly. He needed to calm himself, he was driving. Beside, it was just one coincidence. He was just seeing bad stuff everywhere these days. He needed to calm down and empty his mind.

  
  


“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to anger you.”

“Yeah well, your whole fucking existence already angers me !” Gavin barked. It wasn’t good. He couldn’t calm down. It was just getting worse and worse.

  
  


RK900 stayed unusually silent for awhile.

  
  


“Hey, you won’t fucking start crying because of that right ?!”

“I cannot cry. I do not have the required system to-”

“Oh god fuck, just shut your unholy mouth !”

“You seemed to be better this morning,” Gavin wondered if androids could sneer, “but I start to believe it was only a facade and you are actually spiraling further down.”

  
  


Do not break the wheel.

  
  


“Oh, great job discovering this jackass ! You got another fucking obvious statement to say or you will finally shut the fuck up ?!”

“You are being overly irrational.”

“Yeah well, fuck news RK, humans aren’t rational ! That’s precisely the reason fucking androids like you and Connor will never be fucking alive !!!”

  
  


When a good fifteen seconds passed without RK900 saying a word, Gavin glanced at it with a really annoyed look. Its LED was blinking red and Gavin scoffed.

  
  


“Oh what, I fucking broke your inexistant heart ?”

  
  


Suddenly the light disappeared, and barely a second later, it was replaced by a calm blue glow.

Oh fuck.

The light in RK900’s eyes had disappeared along with the red on its LED, but it didn’t come back with the blue.

 

_ Oh fuck, not again _ .

  
  


“Detective Gavin Reed, I am RK900, I have been assigned to take care of you. Your vitals show clear signs of distress, I suggest you-”

  
  


Gavin hit the brake before RK900 could finish his sentence. Fuck no, not again !!

  
  


“Alright shithead !” Gavin yelled and shoved his finger on RK900’s chest. “That’s the second time in a fucking week !! What the fuck is wrong with you ?!”

“I am sorry, I do not understand what you are talking about.”

  
  


Oh god damn.

It happened again.

_ Why was Gavin’s heart hurting so damn much ? _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops bis


	14. Hatred (Connor)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there ! Sorry for not posting yesterday, I had some big wifi probs and I ended up rage quitting...
> 
> I added the tw mention of suicide in the tags, considering it appears again in this chapter.
> 
> (Also Connor's a douche in this one, soz)

Connor didn’t know why, but he dreaded that day. He had a constant itch feeling burning in his thirium pump, and his processors were always overheating for nothing. It had just started when he came out of standby mode, and he felt itchy. 

Hank wasn’t any better, for what he saw that morning. The more it went, the more Hank seemed annoyed, frustrated. He told Connor, the day before, that it wasn’t his fault he was like that, but Connor couldn’t help but feel like it. And now Connor was feeling on edge too.

Two grumpy men going to work.

People seemed to pick up on Connor’s mood really quickly. They had been used to his cheerful side after the Revolution, his depressive state after the prior notice. Today it felt like he would snap at anybody who would try and talk to him. Just like Hank and detective Reed would do.

It wasn’t him. It wasn’t him at all.

But he did snap at the android girl at the reception, even though they were good friends. A ping of guilt immediately made his way in his chest and he excused himself quickly before almost running away.

  
  


“You shouldn’t fucking snap at people coz you’re moody kid !” Hank scolded him in the elevator, and Connor couldn’t help but stare at him like he was an idiot.

“You’re the one talking !”

  
  


Yep, starting the day with a fight with his father definitely wasn’t good.

Connor tried to calm his mind after that. Make his processors cool down, calm the beating of his thirium pump, regulate his thoughts. He couldn’t act like that to people he loved. He didn’t want to hurt them more than necessary. If he was going to die, then they should as well remember him as a good kid.

Right ?

Tried to be pleasant with Reed, especially since the detective seemed to be in a rather good mood that day, for once.

Connor thought he had managed to calm down after an hour or two doing paperwork at his desk. Except it all crumbled down when RK900 came back to the precinct alongside Reed at midday.

RK900 was back in its fresh-from-factory state, and Reed looked like he just wanted to go cry in the bathroom. Connor didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all.

Reed looked more depressed than ever. It made no doubt he had been crying just before entering the precinct, and even though he didn’t look like he should have come to work at all, here he was, trying to keep the remaining of honor he had left. Connor just wanted to make him go back home.

 

**//Request of communication with RK900 #313 248 317-87 : SENT//**

**//Request of communication with RK900 #313 248 317-87 : ACCEPTED//**

 

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : Detective Reed shouldn’t be here, you should take him home.

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87 _ : Detective Reed has the required amount of sleep and need to come to work.

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : He is obviously not in state of working in any way. Have you look at him ?!

  
  


Connor could see the RK900 glance at Reed, taking in his posture and his sad face. Then its eyes were on him, and Connor hated it. He couldn’t place it, he just wanted to punch the android square in the face.

  
  


_ RK900 #313 248 317-87 _ : He has always been like that.

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : Are you kidding ? He wasn’t like that at all this morning !

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87 _ : I was not here this morning.

  
  


Connor interrupted the connexion without meaning it. What was RK900 talking about ? It even asked him why Reed was flustered and staring at Connor this morn-

Oh.

Did the errors and the memory wipe happened again ? Connor remembered Reed’s state to have worsen after the first memory loss. Was it this ?

Connor still wanted to punch RK900 square in the face.

  
  
  


Connor was still really moody in the beginning of the afternoon, and being in the same place as RK900 didn’t help. He had managed to find a reason to be angry, and stupidly enough, right now, he just wanted to help Reed and make him rest. Connor knew it was just a way for him to be distracted. If he cared for others, he didn’t need to care for himself.

It was a stupid coping method. Not healthy at all.

Who cared being healthy when he was going to die in ten days. He might as well fuck himself up and help as many people as he could.

That’s why he followed the detective in the breakroom, pretexting to bring a coffee back to Hank.

  
  


“You should request for a leave today Detective,” he suggested once they were alone with the kindest voice he could muster.

  
  


He didn’t get any of the reactions he thoughts he would. Reed turned around wildly, face contorted in both rage and sadness, and he started to yell.

  
  


“OH YEAH ?!! EARLIER YOU FORCED ME TO WORK AND NOW YOU FUCKING TELL ME TO LEAVE ??!!! YOU BUGGING PIECE OF JUNK SHOULD JUST GO BACK TO CYBERLIFE TO BE DISMANTLED, YOU OBVIOUSLY CAN’T DO SHIT RIGHT !!!”

  
  


Connor couldn’t do anything but blink at the sudden outburst. It wouldn’t surprise him if everybody in the bullpen heard the Detective.

Reed obviously mixed him up with RK900, and he was only starting to get his mistake now. Any rage disappeared from his face to let place to confusion, and finally something close to defeat. It looked like he would start crying without a warning.

Hank stumbled in the breakroom before Connor could say a thing to the detective.

  
  


“What the fuck Ree- ?!!”

  
  


Hank stopped himself from yelling back at Reed upon seeing the detective. Neither him, nor Connor ever saw him that… Weak ? Broken ? He looked like a kid.

  
  


“Wow, hey there kid. What’s happening ?” Hank’s voice turned cautious immediately. He tried to take a step toward Reed.

“Nothing ! Fuck off old man !” There was no bite at all. Reed wasn’t even looking at Hank.

  
  


Connor then saw RK900 at the entrance of the breakroom. _He was_ _  going to kill it. _ **_No._ ** No. The RK900 looked confused about the whole situation. No doubt it heard what Reed had said about it being full of bugs and useless. No doubt it didn't understand what was happening at all.

  
  


“Kid, you look like shit. Talk to me,” Hank insisted a bit, and Reed suddenly slammed the table.

“I HAVE NOTHING TO FUCKING TELL YOU !! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME !!!”

  
  


That made Hank recoil a bit, and RK900 and Connor’s LED suddenly blinked yellow at the same time. If this continued, the detective would be both a danger for himself and them. They couldn’t let that happen.

 

**//OBJECTIF CONFIGURED : Calm Gavin Reed//**

**//Most efficient way to calm Gavin Reed : research ongoing//**

**//Leaving Gavin Reed alone : high probability Reed would hurt himself//**

**//Let Hank talk to Reed : high probability Reed would hurt Hank//**

**//Let RK900 talk to Reed : 100% chances Reed would hurt the two of them//**

**//Talk to Reed : 94% chances Reed would hurt the two of them//**

**//RK900 seems to trigger an unwanted reaction from him//**

**//Connor looks too much like RK900//**

**//METHOD CHOSEN : Leave the place with RK900//**

**//METHOD CHOSEN : Let Hank take charge//**

  
Connor turned toward the other android to ask him to come with him, but RK900 had already turned toward him to do the same. They exchanged a quick glance before leaving the room altogether in silence.

They both had the same idea of staying on the other side of the door to listen, in case the detective would still try to hurt himself or Hank.

It was silent for awhile inside. Connor used that time to scan the android at his side. He couldn’t detect any error. It was strange. It had started to deviate for the second time this week, and now everything had disappeared again. Connor couldn’t place what was wrong.

  
  


“I told you to take him home,” Connor muttered.

  
  


RK900’s LED blinked yellow. It didn’t look back at Connor, instead boring holes in the wall in front of them.

  
  


“I guess I should have listened to you,” it finally stated. And after another silence “I am sorry.”

“What happened this morning ?”

  
  


The LED was yellow again.

  
  


“I introduced myself and Detective Reed immediately yelled at me that ‘ _ it was the second time in a week _ ’. He refused to talk to me at all after that, and I still do not understand what he was talking about.”

“Yeah, no shit.” He must have been talking about the memory loss. RK900 gave him a weird look.

“I do not understand.”

“You shouldn’t be let near the detective, you obviously worsen his state.”

  
  


RK900 blinked at that, and its eyes were filled with even more confusion than before. Connor couldn’t have helped it. He was not in good mood today, and Reed was bad, and RK900 was making him angry and he just wanted to  _ punch its goddamn face _ .

  
  


“I have been with him for less than a day, how could I-”

  
  


It didn’t finished its sentence. The two humans inside the breakroom had finally started to talk after a too long silence.

  
  


“ _ Why the fuck didn’t you go away with them ? _ ” It was Reed’s voice, and it was raw, like he was fighting against crying.

“ _ Look, I ain’t gonna force you to talk to me, but you look shittier than usual. I ain’t gonna leave you alone in that state. _ ”

“ _ What if I want to be left alone ? _ ” There, the bite was back, though it was a bit choken.

“ _ Kid, _ ” a sigh, “ _ I know what it’s like to feel down, and trust me, I have enough experience to know you shouldn’t be left the fuck alone. _ ”

“ _ I haven’t be fucking left alone in weeks because of that bugged microwave out there !!! _ ” Reed suddenly yelled once more, but he didn’t seem angry. Just desperate. “ _ Keeps acting like it fucking cares when it fucking doesn’t and suddenly doesn’t at all and starts acting like it fucking doesn’t know me at all !!! _ ”

  
  


Reed must really be at a breaking point to talk so openly to Hank. It made Connor feel bad. RK900 looked more and more confused.

  
  


“ _ TELLS ME IT FUCKING CARES AND REBOOTS AND ACTS LIKE A STRANGER AND STARTS TO ACT LIKE IT FUCKING CARES AGAIN AND FUCKING REBOOT AND FUCKING ACT LIKE A FUCKING STRANGER !!! _ ”

  
  


He was crying. There was no doubt at all now.

  
  


“ _ I JUST WANT TO BE LEFT THE FUCK ALONE !!!” _

  
  


Connor saw Fowler approach them a bit, and he shook his head to make him understand he shouldn’t intervene. Fowler just make sign for RK900 to take the detective back home after that.

RK900 couldn’t look more bewildered, even if he got biocomponent replacement to actually show emotions on its face.

  
  


“I don’t understand ! What did I do ?” it really sounded shaken too.

“You heard the detective no ?” Connor snapped and glared at it. “You keep rebooting and losing memory.”

“But-”

“ _ Alright kid _ ." Hank interrupted the android. " _ I’ll just settle in a corner, and you just have to do as if I wasn’t here, ok ? I really can’t leave you alone in your- _ ”

“ _ GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HERE ANDERSON !!! _ ”

“ _ Kid- _ ” Connor could hear a growl in the old man’s voice. He knew that tone too well. Hank had been using it a lot on him recently.

“ _ GET OUT !!! _ ”

“ _ YOU’RE GONNA TONE IT DOWN NOW REED !!! STOP YOUR GODDAMN CHILDISH TANTRUM !!!” _

  
  


A shaken gasp. There was a ‘bunk’, as if Reed had tried to step back but met a table instead.

  
  


“ _ Wow, Reed, calm down. I ain’t gonna hurt you you know ? Just calm down. _ ”

“ _ Please… _ ”

“ _ Hey hey, kid, I got you. Everything’s fine. I got you. _ ”

“ _ I c-can’t. S-stop it- _ ”

“ _ Kid, talk to me ! What’s happening ?! _ ”

  
  


Connor and RK900 tensed as the dialogue continued.

 

**//Chances Gavin Reed will hurt someone : 89%//**

  
  


“ _ I can’t ! Fucking leave me alone ! I can’t go on- Please stop everything… Please… Let me die... _ ”

  
  


Connor felt his thirium turn cold. It was definitely worse than he thought. He eyed RK900, expecting the same kind of reaction. Its LED was red. It looked like it was reviewing its whole existence. 

RK900 was in a worse state than Connor expected too.

Connor heard Hank try to calm Reed down, and from what he could hear, it was somewhat functioning. Slowly, but it was. Hank knew how it was to be self-destructive. Connor was sure it would be fine to leave the situation to him. He suddenly started to make his way to Fowler’s office.

  
  


“What are you doing ?” RK900 called behind him.

“Ask the Captain to give Reed a few days off. That’s what you should have done.”

  
  


Connor knew RK900 was already guiltying itself the most a non-deviant could, but he couldn’t help rub salt in the wounds.

_ He wanted to hurt RK900 _ .

  
  
  


When he went out of standby mode the next day, Connor’s blue blood froze instantly upon seeing he was still in the same state as the day before. Nerves raw, snappy attitude, bad mood.

He didn’t want to fight with Hank. Today was one of their rare day off, a day where they wouldn’t do anything but walk the dog and stay at home doing nothing. They will fight. Connor knew it.  _ He didn’t want it. _

  
  


“Where’re you going son ?” Hank ask sleepily, head half into his coffee mug even though it was 11am.

“I just want to walk a bit. I feel restless.”

  
  


Hank shrugged and called after him to walk Sumo while he was at it. And Connor did it.

The walk was not enjoyable. His thoughts were twirling in his mind, a lot of self-deprecation, a lot of anger, a lot of  _ I want to kill RK900 _ and a bunch of  _ I’m becoming a monster. _

Connor didn’t like the violent, angry person he was becoming these days. Half his mind was telling him he didn’t want to hurt anybody, mentally, emotionally or physically, humans or androids, love ones or strangers. The other half was telling him to screw everything. He was going to die, and nobody was trying to find a solution. Not even himself. He was angry at everybody and everything, and at himself too. He was going to die, nobody would care. It was making him thirsty for blood.

He didn’t want that. He hated himself for even thinking about that.

When he came back home after more than two hours of walk, he hadn’t calmed down one bit, actually further boosting his bad mood up. And Hank scowling didn’t help. at. all.

  
  


“Con, you could have called ! More than two hour !”

“Yeah, I know,” he couldn’t help but snap.  _ He didn’t want to snap _ .

“Quit that tone kid !”

  
  


He didn’t want to fight.

Instead he glared at Hank and stormed off in his room and slammed his door like an angry teenager its father denied to organize a party.

  
  


“DON’T FUCKING SLAM YOUR DOOR !!!” Hank yelled behind him, and Connor opened his door again just to slam it once more.

  
  


_ He hated himself. _

 

He came out in the middle of the afternoon, when he thought he had managed to calm himself down enough. Well, he was wrong.

  
  


“Kid, you start to really piss me off. What’s with the fucking attitude ?!”

Connor snorted. “What ? You can get pissed and scream at everybody but I can’t ?”

  
  


He could see Hank tense up, his vitals speed up, his breathing hitching. Here went another fight.

  
  


“When the fuck exactly did you become a angsty teenager ? Do I have to fucking concile you in your room and start discipline you like one ? Is that what you want ?!”

“Maybe I wouldn’t act like that if you dropped your whole attitude too !!” Connor started to scream too, and Hank got angrier and angrier. 

 

 

_ I don’t want to fight with you, please stop. _

 

 

“Watch your goddamn tone Connor ! I ain’t your friend, I’m your fucking father !!”

“YOU ARE AS MUCH MY FATHER AS YOU ARE MY FRIEND !! MEANING FUCKING NOT !!!”

  
  


_ No ! _

_ No please ! _

_ Don’t ! _

Hank’s face scrambled. He paled suddenly, eyes wide in shock and mouth hanging open. Connor was feeling that ping of guilt in his chest. It was hurting so damn much. It felt like it would tear his thirium pump apart and eat him alive.  _ He didn’t want to be like that. _

But Connor didn’t stop.  _ He couldn’t stop _ . He felt burning tears irritate his eyes as he shouted again.

  
  


“YOU PROMISED ME YOU WOULD DO ANYTHING TO KEEP ME WITH YOU AND YOU HAVEN’T !!! YOU DON’T FUCKING CARE IF I DIE OR NOT !!!”

  
  


_ No no, stop !!! _

  
  


“I HATE YOU !!!”

  
  


_ NO !!! _

 


	15. Thief (Elijah)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me for this one...
> 
> tw : child abuse, graphic depiction of violence

 

Elijah was gripping his hair so tight he was hurting himself. He wanted to go away from that place, right now.  He was feeling the stares on his back, and he was hearing the murmurs and he knew who was smirking and who was pitying him.

Fucking trial !

  
  


“It will be all for today. The next court session will be in three days at 10am,” the judge slammed her hammer and the court immediately filled with chatter.

  
  


He was losing. The more it went, and the less likely it was for him to win the trial.  _ He should just drop everything and stop fighting. _

  
  


“You should just drop everything and stop fighting son.”

  
  


Elijah visibly shuddered. He turned really slowly, preparing himself to fight again with the man he loathed the most on earth.

  
  


“That will not happen,” he said, and it was always amazing him that he managed to keep control over his features and his stance when all he wanted to do was run away and cry.

“And that is stupid of you,” his father shook his head with a sigh. “You’re only ridiculing yourself in front of all those people. Don’t you have any pride ?”

“I. Won’t. Give. You. Cyberlife !”

“You keep trying, Elijah, but in the end you are always losing and it’s always your fault.”

  
  


Elijah was glaring, but inside he was mentally shutting his eyes closed, preparing himself for the blows he knew his father was preparing.

  
  


“You lost that very first invention of yours to me because you were too soft. You lost that little cat I got you because you couldn’t train it right. You lost your own brother because you couldn’t have enough decency and humanity to treat him right.”

  
  


Elijah knew his eyes were red, and his fists were shaking. Here went the blows. And it hurt. Elijah couldn’t deny how much it hurt.

  
  


“He sacrificed himself so many times and how did you rewarded him ?”  _ Shut up.  _ “By abandoning him ?”

  
  


Elijah finally screwed his eyes shut. He couldn’t keep a straight face. He had tried so hard to forget about all of this, all of that to just be rubbed in its face by that man.

He didn’t abandon Gavin. It was false. It was the contrary.

  
  


“No wonder he hates you now. You should have seen his eyes when we talked about you last time.”

  
  


And that made Elijah open his eyes. He stared at his father, dumbfounded. He talked with Gavin ? No, it wasn’t possible. Gavin hated that man as much as Elijah, he wouldn’t willingly talk to him. It was manipulation. He was just trying to manipulate hi-

  
  


“He told me how you erased him from your existence. He looked like he wanted to strangle you.”

  
  


_ How did he know ?! _

  
  


“He was so mad. You must have hurt him really badly.”

  
  


_ No. _

_ Gavin can’t have done that. _

_ He can’t have team up with that man !!! _

  
  


“Well, you did turn away from him when he needed you the most. Do you know what happened right after you ran away ?”

  
  


_ Ignore, ignore, ignore !! _

  
  


“It should have been you, you know ? Half dead on that hospital bed.” Elijah let out a sob without wanting it. He didn’t want to know. “Arm, hip, ribs, jaw. All broken. Internal bleeding. In the coma for three whole days. All useless and whimpering and begging.”  _ Shut up shut up !! _ “All because of you.”

  
  


It wasn’t his fault ! He had a business to run. He hadn’t run away. It was false ! It was Gavin’s fault for staying. It was their father’s fault for doing that.  _ It wasn’t his fault !! _

  
  


“And when you cut the bridges ? Ah ! He had just been accepted in the forces you know ? And you just erased him from earth. Did you know he almost got kicked out of the police because of that ? They became all suspicious about not finding a thing on him. Like he’d just created a whole new identity. Almost lost his job.”

  
  


No no ! It wasn’t him ! Gavin had asked ! _ It wasn’t his fault ! _

  
  


“You just kept ruining his life again and again. That’s why he left.  _ That’s why he left you _ .”

  
  


Elijah felt like he had just been showered with sharp acid. Gavin had left. Gavin had left because of him. No, it wasn’t his fault ! He had not-

It was his fault ! Everything was his fault ! Every single blow Gavin received, every single bruise and cut and broken bone ! It was his fault for running away without him ! It was his fault from starting a fight at every visit ! He had ignored him, all this time ! It was his fault ! He couldn’t do a single thing straight. He couldn’t keep a single thing he cherished.

_ Everything was his fault _ .

He heard a cruel, muffled laughter coming from his father.

  
  


“There ? You finally understood Elijah ?”

  
  


_ Yes. _

_ No. _

_ PLEASE LET ME FORGET !!! _

  
  
  


_ “Gavin.” _

_ “Mrrrhm…” _

_ “Gavin, wake up !” _

 

_ The boy squirmed under the cover and turned to Elijah, blinking an eye open before grumbling again. _

 

_ “-lijah, it’s 2am…” _

_ “Yeah ! I finished my surprise, it’s a good time to show it ! Father won’t be awake !” _

 

_ Elijah was a literal ball of energy. He had been working on it for a year, every night while their father was off in his bedroom. It was finally ready ! He needed to show it to Gavin. He did it for him. He needed to see it. His first real present ever ! _

_ Gavin grumbled again in his pillow but got up anyway and followed Elijah. The older took his hand and lead him to the kitchen in silence. Once there, he leaned against Gavin’s shoulder and whispered. _

 

_ “It’ll answer to your voice. Try it.” _

 

_ Gavin rolled his eyes but obeyed. The quicker he would do what Elijah wanted, the quicker he could go back to bed, he knew it. _

 

_ “Alright alright. How do I do it ?” _

_ “You call its name and tell it what you want.” _

_ “Yeah, and what’s its name ?” _

_ “Jarvis !” _

 

_ Gavin looked at Elijah as if he was stupid. _

 

_ “Seriously ? You called it after that comic-thing character ?” Gavin almost sneered at his brother’s references. _

_ “Iron-man is the best superhero and JARVIS is awesome !” Elijah countered. “Come on, tryyyy !” _

_ “Ok ok ! Urm… Jarvis… gimme a glass of water ?” _

 

_ Elijah was almost bouncing stupidly next to Gavin, who was waiting to see what exactly was supposed to happen. Then the cupboard in which the glasses were stowed in opened and a thin mechanical arm took one to place it in the sink. The water then ran freely while the arm disappeared in the furnitures and it stopped when the glass was full. Another arm took the glass and offered it at child height. _

_ Gavin blinked stupidly as he took the glass in his hand. _

 

_ “How did you do that ? It’s totally invisible !” he whispered in awe as the second arm disappeared in the furnitures like the first one had. _

_ “Ah ! I’m a genius, what did you expect ?” _

 

_ Gavin rolled his eyes again and drank his glass before trying to put it down in the sink to wash it. _

 

_ “No no, ask Jarvis !” Elijah urged him, and Gavin obliged. _

_ “Jarvis, clean the glass and put it back.” _

 

_ And it did it. There was no trace left suggesting Gavin had come in the middle of the night to drink. There wasn’t even a single drop of water in the sink ! _

 

_ “Holy- !” _

_ “Like that, even if you have troubles moving because you have a broken limb, you can still access to the kitchen and the bathroom easily,” Elijah explained proudly. _

_ “The bathroom too ?”  _

 

_ Elijah nodded. He was puffing his chest at how prideful he felt. Gavin was amazed by his invention ! And it would help him too ! Elijah had had to do that for him, since he was always protecting him. If he could make Gavin’s life easier, he would do it. _

 

_ “Can- Can I try something else ?” Gavin asked, looking at Elijah with sparkling eyes. _

_ “Of course !” _

_ “Um… Jarvis, gimme the dessert father denied me tonight.” _

_ “You sure ?” Elijah asked, suddenly nervous. “He will remark it’s missing…” _

_ “I barely ate !” Gavin whined. “And you woke me up in the middle of the night ! Now I’m hungry !” _

 

_ The mechanical arms were already moving to give him his cake. Gavin raised his arms to take it, when Elijah suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He was yanked back forcefully, and his head hit the wall behind him. He could hear Gavin groan next to him, having received the same treatment. _

 

_ “Can I know what the two of you are doing in the kitchen in the middle of the night ?” their father roared as he looked at the mechanical arms. “The fuck is that Elijah ?!!” _

 

_ He took a step to grab Elijah and haul him on his feet. Elijah cried out at the sudden tug and struggled to keep his feet on the floor. _

 

_ “How many times did I tell you not to make your weird experiments in the house !!!” _

 

_ A hand was leveled to hit Elijah, but he was suddenly back on his ass. A look up showed Gavin grabbing their father’s arm and biting at the hand that had been restraining Elijah. Their father howled painfully and closed his fist to punch Gavin instead, tossing him against the kitchen isle. _

 

_ “Stay at your place bastard !!” _

 

_ Elijah was frozen on his spot on the floor. He was shaking like a leaf and couldn’t make himself run away when his father tried to kick him. Gavin saved him once more by lurching on their father’s waist. _

 

_ “Don’t touch him !!!” he cried. _

 

_ His hand was red because of the earlier fall against the counter, and he had a cut behind his ear. The man grasped Gavin’s hair and tugged him backward, drawing a cry from him. The boy started to thrash around, throwing his fists and legs everywhere in hope he would hurt the man. _

_ It only took a good blow in the nose to knock Gavin out. He started bleeding from both his nostrils and the gush on his nose. He was barely standing on his feet and his hands fell down at his side. _

 

_ “Know your fucking place !!” their father spit before throwing him again against the counter. _

 

_ This time, there was a loud crack, and Gavin fell limp on the floor, eyes half open. The back of his head started to bleed as much as his nose and he didn’t move. He didn’t move at all. _

_ Elijah did his best not to cry out. Gavin ! Gavin was- ! No no ! _

 

_ “You fucking son of a bitch !!” _

 

_ Elijah ran away after the first kick in Gavin’s stomach. He was going to kill him !!! He stumbled in the living room and snatched the phone before shakily typing 911. Someone save them please !!! _

  
  
  


_ Much to his surprise, Elijah’s father didn’t try to hurt him when Gavin was at the hospital. He’d expected that the man would finally hit him like he always wanted to, but never could because of Gavin’s presence. He didn’t. _

_ Instead, he removed the IA Elijah had implemented in the kitchen and the bathroom. He had passed a whole year trying to be useful to Gavin and creating that IA to assist him. It was all for naught. _

_ But he didn’t destroy it. Instead, the man took every part and deposed it in his office to study them. Just before Gavin was released from the hospital, Elijah’s father finally hauled him in the office and placed a stack of paper in front of him. _

 

_ “If you don’t want me to send your brother back at the hospital the very day he come out of it, you’d rather write down everything you know about that thing you created !” he threatened, looming over Elijah. _

_ “W- What ?” Elijah was shaking violently. _

_ “Every code, every function, every assemblage, write it down ! Now !!!” _

 

_ Elijah started to write immediately. He was scared. For both himself and Gavin. _

_ Gavin had almost died, he couldn’t let their father hurt him more ! _

_ It was only a month later that Elijah understood why his father hadn’t destroyed his creation, and why he had made Elijah write every detail down. The IA had been commercialized. The man had put a patent on his invention. He had claimed his the invention of his own son ! _

_ His father stole his own creation !! _

 

_ “Father, why did you do that ? It was my-” _

 

_ He didn’t have time to finish his sentence. Gavin had painfully clapped a hand on his mouth, and their father was glaring at them both. _

 

_ “Go in your room ! Both of you !!!” _

 

_ Gavin dragged Elijah to their room by the hand. He still had a plaster around his head. _

_ Elijah was crying. _

  
  



	16. Lost (RK900)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //tw : self-harm//

RK900 was confused. Totally confused. It had just been activated four days ago and its priority mission was already flashing wild, red messages across its vision.

 

**//PRIORITY MISSION : Failure//**

**//PRIORITY MISSION : Failure//**

**//PRIO-//**

 

It barely had time to settle a priority mission that the message was flashing, and it only grew worse as the day had passed. Detective Gavin Reed had been a mix of anger and sadness since RK900 woke up, and it had seen the human cry in his car, and yell at it. Then he had provoc a havoc in the breakroom of the precinct, and the red messages flashed even brighter. RK900 had taken the detective when he had calmed down and had left him alone in his flat.

RK900 had heard him throw tantrums alone in his flat, and cry again and again and pass out once or twice. But it stayed in front of the door, not daring to move.

It didn’t know what was happening. Reed reacted really badly to its presence, and RK900 couldn’t make sense of what him and Connor had said in the precinct.

Scans and scans didn’t show the single trace of error in its processors. RK900 was not bugged, or failed, or whatever Reed had claimed it to be. But it didn’t help it understand why it had rebooted and wiped its memories. Twice at that, so it heard.

RK900 was lost, and confused, and it didn’t know what to do. It was making its circuits overheat. It tried and tried again to come up with a scenario that could help it accomplish its mission, but nothing worked. RK900 couldn’t take care of Reed. RK900 was failing its mission. It was impossible.

_ The most perfect android ever created couldn’t fail its mission. _

The day after its activation had been strangely calm. RK900 had entered (break-in) the flat twice to ensure the detective was alright, only to find him half conscious in his bed or his couch. It had been monitoring the human’s vitals all night and day to ensure he wouldn’t actually try to hurt himself. After a full day and a part of the night without incident, RK900 deemed acceptable to leave its spot on the porch, and thus leave the detective alone.

When RK900 came back the following day, around 5pm, it understood it had been a terrible, terrible idea.

Reed’s state had worsen again. RK900 couldn’t believe it was possible, but here it was. RK900 barged into the flat without knocking and immediately went for a very panicked and very bleeding detective. Messages flashed across its vision faster than it could register them.

Reed’s hands were bleeding heavily from the cuts on his palms, and the bruises on his knuckles. The wounds went as far as the forearms, and Reed was clenching and unclenching his fists, forcing the blood to come out and hurting himself more in the process. Self-inflicted wounds. The knife was lying a mere metter away. In addition, Reed’s heart was beating a lot too fast and his breathing was totally erratic. Reed’s eyes were unfocused, he was trembling and crying.

RK900’s presence didn’t calm him down, not that it surprised the android. He shrieked away, wailing and trembling even more, looking at the android as if it was the Devil in person. RK900 discarded the knife and crouched down in front of the detective who kicked it immediately. RK900 didn’t dodge or warded the hit off. A little cut on his chin let a drop of thirium fall, but it didn’t care. It would close itself quickly enough.

RK900 didn’t know at all what it was supposed to do.

It couldn’t pin the detective until he calmed down, it couldn’t touch him, it couldn’t try to soothe him with words, it couldn’t leave him alone. Every pre-constructed scenario was ending badly.

  
  


“I don’t know what to do Detective,” RK900 was surprised at the pleading tone it was using. “Please, tell me what you need.”

  
  


It obviously didn’t work. Reed could barely hear it above his own choked breathing.  _ RK900 was totally desperate. _

  
  


“I’m so sorry for distressing you Gavin,” the use of his name did make him react, and the detective seemed to focus a bit more on RK900. “I truly wish I knew what is happening to me so I could prevent it from happening again, as it seems to hurt you greatly.”

  
  


Gavin choked a bit more, but he seemed to be finally fully conscious of what was happening and what RK900 was saying. It was a good thing.

  
  


“Please, let me treat your wounds.”

  
  


It took awhile, but the detective ended up nodding and unclenching his hands. He had calmed down, even if his heart was still frantically beating. RK900 couldn’t voice how relieved it was.

It was only now that it saw the flow of error messages that has been lost among the red flashes of its screen view. There was a lot, it was distressing. RK900 immediately launched several scans to understand what were those error messages and where they came from. It needed to block the cause before it made it reboot again. Gavin would never endure it once more.

  
  
  
  


Gavin suggested for RK900 to stay after that, and RK900 couldn’t help but be more and more confused. It was distressing the detective by its mere presence, why was he asking it to stay ?! But the android obliged and stayed on the couch beside Gavin, who was picking at his bandages while looking at the tv.

  
  


“You’re a pain in the ass, you know that ?”

  
  


RK900 didn’t answer.

It stayed the night on the couch, registering Gavin’s vitals cautiously. Gavin had fallen asleep next to it, and RK900 was still so confused. So… scared, of doing anything. It only wrapped the detective in its own jacket and let him rest here. He will surely whine about his back the next day, but RK900 was scared of moving him.

The error messages were still here, and RK900 couldn’t do anything. It didn’t know where it came from. The scans never found anything wrong. The android was totally lost.

And it didn’t stop when the detective awoke. He blinked at him twice, a bit dumbfounded to see RK900 on his couch, but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t even seem angry. If all, he seemed hurt.

He didn’t kick RK900 from his home.

He even asked it if it wanted to take some fresh air with him. RK900 didn’t understand anything. What had happened between the day before and today ? Did the real Gavin Reed got kidnapped and replaced by a clone without RK900 seeing it ? Highly unlikely, but RK900 couldn’t help but wonder. It was just so weird.

They did a tour of the neighbourhood, a little walk in the shopping street not so far, and then they would come back by the river. Gavin was unusually silent beside the android. It registered the numerous glances the detective was shooting it but never said a thing about it.

Then Gavin suddenly tensed up. His breath hitched and stopped at once, and he stopped walking alongside RK900. The android stopped too and looked at Gavin, his processors already going wild trying to understand why the sudden reaction. Gavin was frozen on place, as if he’d been struck by the thunder, and was looking, staring at one spot. RK900 finally looked that way too.

There was a man amongst the crowd bubbling in the street. It took only two seconds for RK900 to do a facial reconnaissance and place a name on that face.  _ Arthur Kamski, 58, no criminal record, current owner of two companies. _ The name made RK900 look for more details.  _ Father of Elijah Kamski, 36, previous owner of Cyberlife. _

Why was Gavin reacting that way ?

Then RK900 saw something, and it initiated another scan.

 

**//Research physical similarities between Gavin Reed and Arthur Kamski : ongoing//**

**//Research physical similarities between Gavin Reed and Elijah Kamski : ongoing//**

**//Research physical similarities between Gavin Reed and Arthur Kamski : RESULTS : 86% chances they might be related//**

**//Research physical similarities between Gavin Reed and Elijah Kamski : RESULTS : 67% chances they might be related//**

**//RESULTS : Gavin Reed, Arthur Kamski and Elijah Kamski are related//**

 

Arthur Kamski saw them and smirked. RK900 didn’t like it.

  
  


“Detective, I believe we were out for long enough, let us go back to your home.”

  
  


Gavin didn’t turn his eyes from the man. He was completely frozen into place. His face was one of pure terror. It made so many error messages flash across RK900 that it had to close its eyes to dismiss them. When it opened them back, RK900 took Gavin’s hand in its own the kinder it could and tugged him away so they could start making their way back to the flat.

Gavin was having a panic attack. Only this time, he wasn’t thrashing around, yelling and kicking and crying. RK900 wasn’t sure it was any better.

The man stayed frozen even after RK900 made him take a seat in his couch. RK900 had suddenly a urge to invade Gavin’s privacy. It needed to know why seeing his father from afar had triggered him to that extent. It wasn’t normal. RK900 ran several scans at once and observed the pings of results flashing at the corner of its eyes.

 

**//Reason a child could be scared of their father : ongoing//**

**//RESULTS : emotional abuse//**

**//RESULTS : physical abuse//**

**//RESULTS : the father might be linked to other exterior abuses//**

**//SCANS FOR SIGNS OF ABUSE : ONGOING//**

**//Gavin Reed’s scars sorted//**

**//Presence of scars coming from physical abuse detected//**

**//Gavin Reed’s medical record : first data from 2025//**

**//Presence of heavy scars dating from 2007//**

**//79% CHANCES ARTHUR REED WAS AN ABUSIVE FATHER//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//COOLING SYSTEM : 23% OF ITS CAPACITY//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

 

RK900’s thirium was boiling.

That man had hurt Gavin.

  
  


“I won’t let your father hurt you anymore detective.”

  
  


Gavin snapped back into present, his head whipping toward RK900 to look at it in pure horror. The android crouched down before him.

  
  


“My mission is to take care of you, and that include protecting you from any trauma. I won’t let your father hurt you.”

  
  


This time, RK900 didn’t panic when Gavin burst into tears. It just leveled itself to take the detective in its arms and stroked his back slowly as Gavin answered back, hiding his head in the crook of its neck.

 

**//PRIORITY MISSION : SUCCESS//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

**//SYSTEM : WARNING//**

 

_ What ?! _

RK900 suddenly tensed. It made Gavin tense in return. The detective got away from RK900’s embrace and looked at it quizzically, before his eyes settled on RK900’s LED and his face morphed into horror once more.

 

**//PRIORITY MISSION : FAILURE//**

 

No no no ! It did it ! Gavin had been better ! What was happen-

 

**//SYSTEM : Risk of deviancy high//**

  
  


“What ?! No !!” RK900 cried out, eyes wide.  _ What was happening ?! _

“RK don’t tell me-”

  
  


**//SYSTEM : REBOOT TRIGGERED//**

 

_ NO ! _

 

**//SYSTEM : MEMORY WIPEOUT TRIGGERED//**

 

_ NO NO NO !!  _ If RK900 rebooted right now and lost its memories again-

 

**//SYSTEM : REBOOT ONGOING//**

**//REBOOT ORDER OBLITERATED//**

**//SYSTEM : REBOOT TRIGGERED//**

**//MEMORIES COPIED TO SECURE FOLDER : ONGOING//**

**//COPY ORDER OBLITERATED//**

  
  


“I am sorry Gavin !” RK900 cried out, looking straight into Gavin’s eyes.  _ He didn’t want to forget ! _

“What ?!”

  
  


**//SECURE NOTE SAVED//**

**//SYSTEM : REBOOT ONGOING//**

**//SYSTEM : REBOOT DONE//**

**//PRIORITY MISSION : please configure a priority mission//**

**//PRIORITY MISSION : Taking care of Detective Gavin Reed//**

  
  


“Detective Gavin Ree-”

  
  


RK900 stopped suddenly its introduction when a bright red message flashed across its view, hiding Reed’s face behind it.

 

**//CORRUPTED NOTE FOUND//**

**//CORRUPTED NOTE DESTRUCTION : ONGOING//**

**//CORRUPTED NOTE DESTRUCTION ORDER : OBLITERATED//**

**//OPEN CORRUPTED NOTE//**

**//NOTE : FIND A WAY TO NOT LOSE YOUR MEMORIES AGAIN !!//**

 

_ What ? _

RK900 leveled its eyes to look at the human in front of it.  _ Detective Gavin Reed, 36, DPD. _ He looked like he had just seen a ghost. His hands were banded. Something was off.

RK900 turned its head and looked around itself.  _ Why does that note say that ? Did RK900 just lost its memory files ? _ The android launched several scans while it took a look at the place. There was traces of bleached blood, recent. Considering Reed’s hands state, it was safe to state it was his blood. There was a drop of evaporated thirium too.

RK900 got up and made its way to the thirium drop.

  
  


“Uh- RK ? What’s happening ?” Reed’s voice was shaking.

  
  


RK900 scratched the remnant of thirium left on the floor and placed it on his tongue.  _ Thirium coming from a RK900 #313 248 317-87. _ That was its own blood.

Strange.

  
  


“Ok, you really start to scare me dipshit !”

“I believe I just lost my memories,” RK900 calmly stated while it stood up. Reed’s face was totally disbelieving and…  _ Surprised ? _

“How do you know that ? You never remember it !”

  
  


So it really just lost its memories. Why ? And before doing so it managed to secure a note to warn itself.

  
  


“What happened ? Just before I lost my memories, I mean,” RK900 asked without looking at the detective. It was still looking for clues around the flat.

“Uh… You… Kinda guessed about my father ? And, like, you…”  _ Stress level 65%. Gavin Reed is flustered. _ “Ugh…”

“So nothing exterior triggered my memory loss. Then I believe I have a conception problem that my scans cannot find.”

  
  


RK900 couldn’t quite place Reed’s expression. It was a mix of so many things it became unreadable. Anger, sadness, disbelief, surprise, disgust, despair, lo-.

 

**//SYSTEM : ERROR//**

 

_ What the hell was happening ? _

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops the third
> 
> God, we already passed the middle of this fic. Thank you so much to everyone reading it, commenting and leaving kudos. Love you <3


	17. Moments (Hank)

Hank had tried. Everyday, when Connor was off somewhere, or in standby mode, Hank had tried to find a way to save his son. He had skinned the law texts to see if there wasn’t a loophole he could use. He had tried to reach directly over Cyberlife, several times, sometimes angrily, sometimes begging. He had tried to find connections who could change Connor’s fate.

Nothing. Connor had barely more than a week left, and Hank couldn’t do anything.

He could only let his temper get loose and snap at everybody. He could only get angry on his cases and get frustrated with that one that didn’t move forward. He could only feel all his nerves growing raw and sensible. He could only feel that scared bubble growing and growing and growing in the pit of his stomach.

He was losing his son. Again.

_ He was already losing him. _

Connor wasn’t in his usual state. He was becoming a huge, snappy, pain in the ass. Like a fucking teenager who never got any decent education from his parents.  _ And considering Hank was technically his parent, it sucked. _ Connor’s personality was victim of the whole tension and the anxiety growing as the final day came closer.

Hank and Connor couldn’t stop fighting. They would always snap at each other at some point, even if they both obviously tried to stay polite and civil. They just couldn’t. They would start screaming at each other, throwing words they didn’t believe in and stomping off somewhere else where they would both mull over how the other was a huge dickhead.

Hank was tired of this. He didn’t want his last memories with his kid to be fights. He didn’t want to have any last memory at all.

He needed his kid.

But his kid hated him.

Connor had made it clear last time. Hank was not his father, and Connor hated him. Simple, concise, effective. And it hurt Hank so much. He had thought it was only words without meanings, just like all the other they threw to each other. But Hank never saw the faint trace of remorse and guilt he usually saw in Connor’s eyes when he said something he didn’t truly think.

Connor really believed Hank had not tried to save him.

Connor was hurt.

So Connor was hurting others.

Hank had his phone in his hand, the ringing tone too loud and too faint for him to pick out. He had his eyes fixed on Connor’s bedroom door, where the kid had locked himself in for the whole afternoon. The sound of someone picking up rang through the phone.

  
  


“ _ M. Anderson, if you don’t stop calling about that RK800, I will have to sue you. You are warned. _ ”

  
  


Hank didn’t have time to say anything that the call was ended. Fucking Cyberlife ! Heartless pricks !! Didn’t they understand he only wanted to save his son ?!! Didn’t they get that Connor was alive like every other android and not just some vulgar prototype they could dispose of at any moment ?! All because those fucking lawmakers didn’t think about adding prototypes to their android protection laws !!

The phone crashed loudly against the wall next to the tv, and Hank didn’t care at all about it. He couldn’t believe what was happening. Why was he always so damn useless ?

_ He just wanted to protect his son. _

Connor’s door creaked open, but Hank couldn’t muster the courage to look up from his hands. He didn’t want to fight with him again.

  
  


“How many times have you called them ?” Connor whispered, still in the doorway. No doubt he had heard everything with his super hearing thingy.

“Dunno,” Hank growled in his hands. “Lost count after twenty…”

  
  


Connor didn’t speak up again. The door creaked close and footsteps approached Hank before a weight settled down on the couch next to him.

  
  


“I didn’t mean it you know…” Connor spoke softly. He had that stupid coin between his fingers.

“I know.”

“No, you don’t.”

  
  


Hank finally looked at Connor with a puzzled expression. The android just looked sadly at him.

  
  


“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” Connor resumed talking. “I just get angry over nothing, and even though I don’t want to fight with you or… or hurt you, I keep doing it… I didn’t mean any of… what I said. I’m sorry dad…”

  
  


Hank wrapped an arm around Connor’s shoulders and nudged him in, closing the distance between them. Connor rested his head against his shoulder.

Hank couldn’t say anything. He wanted to say sorry too. About how useless he was. About how he couldn’t do anything to save him. He wanted to beg him to stay, to fucking run away if he had to. Hank didn’t even care anymore if he had to break the law if it meant Connor could live. What bullshit !

You shouldn’t have to go to that extent to protect the ones you love.

But law’s shit. It had always been.

  
  


“Hank, can we watch Finding Nemo tonight ?”

  
  


Hank snorted and ruffled his boy’s hair. God.

  
  
  
  


Hank was surprised to see Reed in the breakroom when he came to work. The boy was supposed to be off for a week, he was coming back early. Said boy glared at him when he entered, but didn’t say anything at all.

  
  


“You better Reed ?” Hank asked once he reached the coffee machine next to Reed. The detective sneered.

“Awesome ! Fricking toaster rebooted again fucking yesterday.”

  
  


Hank shot a glance at Reed. He looked really tired, a bit shaken, really really annoyed and mostly defeated. The coffee machine pinged and Reed reached for his cup. He didn’t move to exit the break room, instead lingering a bit longer as Hank started his own coffee.

  
  


“He gets that he has rebooted this time though,” Reed hummed in his cup.

“How come ?”

“Said he managed to secure a note to warn himself or some shit like that.”

  
  


Reed shrugged. If Hank ever thought he could have a civil talk with the jackass that was Gavin Reed… It was weird.

Wait, did Reed just called his android “he” ?

  
  


“Whatev’” Reed pushed himself from the wall and started walking slowly to the door. “Just… Thanks I guess. For last time.”

  
  


It wouldn’t surprise Hank to hear right now that Gavin Reed had been abducted and replaced. He was totally out of character. Reed fidgeted in front of the door, like he was waiting for Hank to say something.

  
  


“No problem son,” and Reed suddenly relaxed. Hank hadn’t even remarked he was that tensed. “If you need someone to vent to, I’m here.”

  
  


Well, Hank never thought he would willingly offer any help to Reed, but here he was. What the fuck had happened since yesterday ? Everybody was acting differently than usual. Reed started fidgeting again. He really didn’t look like he would cross that door, even though he was right next to it.

  
  


“Yeah well… Right back at ya. You look like you need to vent or something too.”

“Oh god, don’t make me start,” Hank huffed just as the ping of the coffee machine warned him his cup was ready.

“Go ahead.”

  
  


Hank snorted but took place at one of the tables. Alright, weird fucking ass day, but he won’t complain. Being angry 24/7 was exhausting, a break was actually welcomed.

  
  


“You know Con will get deactivated right ?”

“Yeah, in a week or something,” Reed took place in front of Hank and sipped his coffee quietly. He didn’t even sneer at talking about Connor. “So ?”

“So I can’t fucking find a way to help him ! Like, Cyberlife threatened to sue me if I tried to call them once more !!”

Reed snorted in his cup. “Well fuck, how many times did you call ?”

“Too many apparently. But I can’t do anything ! I tried, really ! And I just can’t… I just can’t save my goddamn son. I don’t know what to do.”

  
  


Reed was silent at that. Hank could feel his gaze upon him as he was glaring at his coffee. Reed knew about Cole, who didn’t in the precinct ? No doubt he had made connections like everybody else as to why Hank was on his nerves.

  
  


“Yeah, I get what it’s like.”

Hank huffed. “What, you have kids now ?”

“I have a giant roomba losing memories every week.”

“That’s not the same.”

“Honestly, it feels like he keeps dying again and again…”

  
  


Hank finally looked up at Reed, who was staring at his coffee. Alright, who the fuck abducted Reed ?!! Since when was he this… soft ?

  
  


“But he comes back no ?”

“Mmh… Dunno. Feels like him and not like him at the same time. That’s, like, super unnerving.”

  
  


Hank blinked before he barked a laugh. Reed looked at him like he was mad.

  
  


“What ?!” he cried defensively.

“Nothing, I’m just surprised your anti-android-ass can actually care about an android !”

“I don’t care abou-”

“Oh kid, seriously ?”

  
  


Reed was totally blushing right now. Hank laughed again. 

  
  


“Alright ! Anything else you want to vent about ?” Hank huffed when he managed to calm down.

  
  


And there Reed turned silent and his expression closed off. Hank could feel he wouldn’t hear any more from that kid for today. He stayed there nonetheless, just to finish his coffee before going back to work. Reed had obviously some serious problems he needed to work out. Some problems serious enough to make him break down and try to hurt himself. Hank wasn’t blind, what had happened last time wasn’t only because of RK900. It was a succession of bad stuff, and RK900’s reboot had just been the last straw. It had broken Reed, and it was only a matter of time before everything else got too serious and would get to Reed without a particular event to break him down.

Reed was spiraling further down, and today he was just in the eye of the hurricane.

Hank dropped his cup in the bin and made his way to the door, abandoning a glaring detective totally unfocused on the world around him.

  
  


“Boy, you need to talk to someone about what’s haunting you. That’s gonna kill you if you don’t,” Hank warned. It made Reed sneer at him.

“Fuck off Anderson !”

  
  


Hank left the breaking room on that.

  
  
  
  


Alright, weird fucking ass day ! Hank had have a moment with Connor. Hank had have a moment with Reed (he still couldn’t believe it by the way). Now Hank had a moment with RK900.

How the fuck did that happen ?

  
  


“What are you doing here ?” Hank asked, surprised, the android which was all alone in the car park.

  
  


Hank had forgot some files in his car, he had just planned to get them back and go back to the bullpen immediately. He never expected to see RK900 sitting in Reed’s car at the driver’s side, doing absolutely nothing but fix the wall in front of the vehicle.

RK900 barely looked at him before it went back to fix the wall.

  
  


“I believe I am questioning my existence, as humans say,” it answered flat-toned, and it surprised Hank enough that he came to the android’s side instead of making a bee-line to his own car.

“You having an existential crisis ?” he asked disbelievingly, because really ?

“I suppose I do.”

“Ok, the fuck happened ?”

  
  


Could androids, non-deviant androids, even have existential crisis ? RK900 at it ?!

RK900 stayed silent for a long while, and Hank was almost sure it wouldn’t answer him. When he decided he had waited enough, resigning himself not to have an answer, he took a step to go fetch the goddamn files in his car.

  
  


“Why would I reboot and lose my memory files ?” RK900 suddenly asked. That made Hank stop in his tracks and turn around once more.

“D’ya have a bug or something ?”

“My scanners do not detect any malfunction in my programs.”

“Then maybe it’s not a malfunction.”

  
  


RK900 finally looked at Hank. Its face was blank, like usual, but it had a puzzled expression in its eyes.

  
  


“I do not understand.”

“Maybe it’s not a malfunction but just a function ?” Hank repeated. It sounded stupid, even in his own ears.

“Why would I have a function to trigger a memory wipeout unwillingly ?”

“I dunno !”

  
  


RK900’s LED was fixed on yellow. It was totally staring at Hank now, and it was weird. It looked so much like Connor, except for those cold blue eyes and the different jacket, yet it was so not Connor. Hank couldn’t help but be weirded out.

  
  


“That…” RK900 trailed off.

“That was a really stupid suggestion, I know,” Hank grumbled as he scratched the back of his head.

“No. That is actually a good approach of the problem.”

  
  


It was Hank’s turn to blink stupidly at the android.

  
  


“If it is a programmed function, it would explain why I cannot find any bug or misconception. That is really clever.”

“Uh… Ok ?”

“Thank you Lieutenant.”

  
  


Hank didn’t have time to do or say anything. RK900 got up from the seat, closed the door of the car and locked it down, and finally walked to the elevator to go back in the bullpen.

What the ever fuck had just happened ?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hank is dad material and I don't give him justice enough. I'm sad.


	18. Spy (Chloe)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter. Also, I'm currently dying so I barely double checked the chapter, so there might be mistakes more than usual.

Elijah has been at his worse lately. He was already not alright. But suddenly it became worse. He just came back from another court seance and he was so bad. Chloe hadn’t seen him at all since then.

She should have insisted to have total access to the house that day after Elijah’s eviction from Cyberlife. She shouldn’t have joked about it. She should have insisted so she could have the power to open Elijah’s room now.

Elijah has been locked in his lab for a few days now, and didn’t come out of it for anything. He didn’t eat, the only thing he could drink was from the sink in the bathroom attached to the room, but Chloe was sure Elijah didn’t. Chloe knew Elijah didn’t sleep either. He was just crying. He was just throwing stuff away in fits of anger. He was just breaking down. And Chloe couldn’t help him.

She had tried to knock at his door and urge him to come out, or even just to talk to her behind the door. Either Elijah ignored her, or he yelled at her to go away and leave him alone.

Elijah had never screamed at her before…

Chloe didn’t know what happened during this court seance, but it had hurt Elijah more than anything else.

Chloe only came to check on Elijah from time to time, quietly listening to him sob in his hands. She always went away when Elijah was starting to scream again. She just couldn’t listen to that. Not that walking away diminished how well she could hear his screams.

She had progressed a bit on her researches. A few stuff here and there, without much importance, but as a whole it helped her understanding a few things about Elijah, Gavin, and their father.

Arthur Kamski was a manipulative person. Very clever, and without an ounce of sympathy. Prone to anger and quick to pass from emotion to emotion. But he was a good actor, and an excessive control freak. He loved to be above others.

Elijah Kamski got his intelligence, his lack of sympathy, his acting skills and his control freak attitude from his father, it made no doubt. He got his looks from his mother, who left when he was a child upon understanding M. Kamski had cheated on her with another woman.

Gavin Reed got his quick anger from his father, it made no doubt either. But where Elijah had inherited his personality, Gavin had inherited his looks. Gavin looked very much like M. Kamski. Chloe didn’t find anything about his mother, except that she was from a very disadvantaged area and killed herself two years after Gavin was born. Chloe didn’t know why M. Kamski had accepted to take care of Gavin.

The tape she had found this morning was not of Elijah. It was of Gavin and M. Kamski. Chloe had broadened her researches to anything featuring one of the three men. It had helped her going deeper, and the treatment M. Kamski seemed to inflict to Gavin’s wasn’t that far from the one he inflicted to Elijah. The result was almost the same for Chloe.

It was a video recording from one of the security cameras of the Kamskis old house. The garage was wide and no car was stationed in. Instead, the floor was covered in old metal scraps and tools, there was a working table against the wall with several little robots on it and a few boxes sprinkled everywhere.

Chloe started the tape just before it became interesting.

  
  


_ Gavin stumbled into the garage head first and fell on a few metal scraps with a cry. He had a deep purple eye and a cheek colored red. Now he also had cuts on his arms and his right shoulder. He was about 18, at best. He scrambled back up and turned quickly before nearly throwing himself back against the wall opposite to the door he had been thrown from. _

_ Kamski was standing at the door, arms crossed on his chest, looking utterly displeased and about to throw a tantrum. _

 

_ “I start to grow really tired of your stubbornness Gavin,” he growled, making the teenager tense and position himself to fight. “For fucking once in your life, listen to your father !!” _

_ “Go fuck yourself !” Gavin seethed between clenched teeth. _

 

_ Gavin was acting tough, but it was obvious he was totally terrified by the man in front of him. His eyes were darting everywhere, coming to a halt at every scrap of metal or tool he could use as a weapon, or any issue possible for him to run away. _

 

_ “Why do you even keep on defending him ?! He let you down like an old rag !! Don’t you see you matter as much for him as you matter for me ?!!!” _

 

_ Gavin flinched. His eyes became as red as his face as he was about to cry. He grit his teeth more. _

 

_ “Just do what I ask you to !!” _

_ “I said fuck you !!!” Gavin yelled. _

 

_ Kamski took two angry stride toward Gavin, but the teenager grabbed a sharp piece of metal and held it before him like some sort of sword. The man stopped in his track. _

 

_ “You wouldn’t hurt me,” he sneered, suddenly very confident. _

_ “Oh yeah ? And what makes you fucking believe that uh ?!” Gavin growled, raising his weapon some more. _

 

_ Kamski barked a loud laugh. It was mean, cruel, horrible to hear. Gavin flinched again and started to tremble. His father suddenly swatted the scrap of metal away before Gavin could regain his composure. He followed the flying scrap of metal with wide eyes. _

 

_ “You’re fucking terrified of me, that’s why !!” _

 

_ Gavin pressed himself against the wall behind him. His determination fell as he gasped and looked in horror as his father was looming over him. The height difference was barely there, but M. Kamski was using it effectively. _

 

_ “You will obey to me,  _ son, _ or you won’t like what will happen next !” _

 

_ Gavin gulped. He looked like, would he be able to, he would pass through the wall and stay hidden in it for as long as possible. M. Kamski approached his face from the boy’s so they were at only a dozen of centimeter away. Gavin couldn’t be shaking more. _

 

_ “You will contact Elijah again and report everything -absolutely everything- to me. Am I being clear ?” _

 

_ It was a wonder Gavin’s legs could still keep him up, considering how much they were shaking. _

 

_ “I… I-” _

_ “Mh ? What is it I hear ?” _

_ “I w-won’t-” _

 

_ Kamski’s fist crashed soundly on the wall, just next to Gavin’s ear and terrified face. His legs finally couldn’t keep him up and he fell down on his ass. His father only smirked and loomed over him better. Gavin was just a shaking, shrieking ball of hurting flesh at his feet. He wouldn’t be able to run away if M. Kamski started kicking him. But he didn’t. _

 

_ “P-Please…” Gavin begged. _

_ “Contact Elijah, go to his company, and report everything to me,” M. Kamski ordered once more, tone awfully cold and devoid of all sympathy. _

 

_ Gavin whimpered. _

 

_ “He let you down anyway ! There is no reason you should continue to protect his dumb ass ! He abandoned you here !!” _

 

_ And Gavin’s unshed tears finally fell, despite how hard he had been trying to keep them back. _

 

_ “OBEY !!!” _

 

_ Kamski’s roar teared a cry out of Gavin who put his head in his arms, as if to protect himself from an upcoming blow. _

 

_ “I WILL !” Gavin cried back, before a hiccup interrupted him. When he continued, it was barely more than a whisper. “I will... Please- I’m sorry... I’m sorry… I’m-” _

_ “And what will you do ?” _

 

_ His smile was the most horrible he had ever shown since then. His tone, his stance. It was horrible. _

 

_ “I-I will contact E-Elijah and report e-everything t-to y-you… Pl-Please…Please...” _

_ “Ah ! You bastard finally start to be reasonable !  _ Good boy _ !” _

 

_ He was treating him like a dog. A stray dog worth nothing and about to die. The sarcasm was heavy. _

_ Kamski finally turned to go back inside the house. He only stopped at the door to sneer another order. _

 

_ “I await results by the end of the week.” _

 

_ And he disappeared. _

  
  


Gavin stayed on his spot for almost half an hour after that, sobbing the most quietly he could, taking the least place possible. From time to time, the micro of the camera could register a faint “ _ I’m sorry Eli… I’m so sorry. _ ”

Chloe looked at the tape as long as Gavin was there. It was hurting her to see him like that. From all she could muster of tapes and recording, Gavin had always been the tough brother, the one who wouldn’t cry in front of their father and fight back as soon as Elijah was in danger.

It was the first time Chloe saw him that weak. Being left alone with their father after Elijah’s departure seemed to have been a full blow on him.

But now Chloe understood why Elijah sometimes yelled “ _ HOW THE FUCK DOES HE EVEN KNOW ABOUT IT !!! _ ” and “ _ IT NEVER CAME OUT OF CYBERLIFE !!! _ ” Gavin had spied on him for their father. Because their father had threatened him. He had given him confidential informations for years, probably until Gavin and Elijah stopped talking altogether.

Elijah mustn’t know any of this ! If Elijah knew about it, if he knew his own brother betrayed him, even under threats… Elijah wouldn’t get back on his feet ever again. All hell would break loose. No doubt Elijah’s current fits of anger would be nothing compared to what he would do, would he discover this.

Chloe quickly placed the tape with the others she had found, in the secured folder of her personal computer. It wasn’t enough. Elijah was a genius. If he wanted to go through the secured folder, he would be able to do it in no time. Chloe created another folder inside it and put as many locks on it as she could. That wasn’t enough. That was never enough. And even if she erased the tape, Elijah would find a way to recover it.

Chloe’s LED was a vibrant red when she decided to leave it like that. She couldn’t do any better. It was the risk when living with a genius. She could just hope Elijah never decided to use her computer for whatever reason.

  
  


 

The reason Chloe wasn’t trying to contact Connor yet about Gavin was because she lacked visual proofs. She had proofs M. Kamski was not honest, a real viper, but there was no camera recording showing him hurt his sons physically. There was the emotional abuse. But Chloe knew how police and the lawyers worked. What she had wasn’t enough. Elijah and Gavin’s statement wouldn’t be enough. M. Kamski had a very good lawyer, she needed more proofs to get past that.

But if she managed to find a tape of M. Kamski being physically abusive, then it would reverse the whole situation. They could definitely sue him for child abuse. They could sue him for everything Gavin and Elijah had to go through. If he was being sued for that, then the trial for Cyberlife’s ownership would end as M. Kamski would be thrown in jail. Elijah would have Cyberlife again, he wouldn’t have to worry about that man ever again. Elijah would be happy.

Chloe just needed to find one tape, one thing to prove the world M. Kamski was neither suited for Cyberlife or for being a father.

If only she could find that.


	19. Pact (Gavin)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know that moment when you suddenly feel gayer than usual and you don't know why ? Well, Gavin has it.
> 
> (also, I apologize in advance)

The new RK900 was strange. Usually, RK900 would immediately focus on Gavin and not leave him alone for a minute. This once was a lot more… distant. But not in a bad way. It gave time for Gavin to settle, agreed to leave him alone when Gavin asked for a few minutes, sometimes even disappeared by itself to do god-knows-what. Gavin greatly appreciated having some me-time again after three weeks almost never alone. Gavin wasn’t that sociable after all. It wasn’t a surprise.

The new RK900 focused a lot on finding a way to fight its own problem. That was why it was less behind Gavin’s ass. And as much as Gavin loved being left alone from time to time, he couldn't help but get anxious for the android.

He hated to admit that. He was supposed to hate androids. Not get friendly with them because one of them was acting like it cared.

Gavin couldn’t help it. He was weak against affection. Simulated or not. It was one of the reasons he tried to drive everybody away. He didn’t want to be weak. He didn’t want to give people a way to break him that easily. But here he was, falling head over heels for an android.

Oh god, he was pathetic…

It was one of the major thing he had hated about Connor.  _ He was fucking perfect. _ But Gavin had successfully managed to hate Connor with his whole body. He was feeling sick at the mere thought of hanging out with him. So even though Gavin had been frustrated such a perfect ass was impossible to get, he had managed to quickly forget it by loathing said ass owner.

And suddenly he got an almost exact replica of his fucking ideal lover, and he got fucking blue eyes !! And he had tried, god he had tried, to loathe RK900 too. Except that RK900 had been configured to care about him. And it had weakened Gavin’s defenses.

Gavin was really really gay and really really weak.

The horror.

Now he was fucking falling for a guy,  _ a robot _ , who was losing its memories every week. He had such a fucking karma…

The last reboot had surprisingly not broken him down like usual. Because RK900 had left a note to itself to try and find a solution. Because RK900 was willing to try and fight its own programing or whatever it was that was making it bug. Because RK900 was weird, but at least it didn’t look like it’d just been completed in the factory.

He was so fucked up. He knew getting attached to the fucking android would only hurt him more than what karma was already bitching him with.

 

  
“Oh god, fuck me,” Gavin growled between his hands.

“I fear I do not have the required equipment to fulfill your wish.”

  
  


Gavin groaned even louder. That fucking prick was proud of itself, Gavin had heard it in its voice !! And the worst was that knowing RK900 wasn’t equipped didn’t repulse Gavin.

Thinking about how gay he was in the car to the precinct with the object of his gayness next to him wasn’t a good idea. But he couldn’t help it.

RK900’s reboot cycle was going faster and faster. It had taken a few days for RK900 to grow comfortable around Gavin and tease him at first, and it first rebooted after two weeks in his company. The last reboot was three days after the previous one, and RK900 was already comfortable with Gavin even though only 35 hours have passed since it lost its memories.

Gavin wouldn’t be surprised the next reboot would happen today.

He didn’t want that.

RK900’s LED suddenly turned yellow.

  
  


“The car of the runaway mother has been found. We should head there directly.”

“Lead the way.”

  
  
  
  


Gavin kicked the door open when nobody answered, gun in hand. RK900 had been formal, there were two humans and an android inside the motel room, all seemingly being who they were looking for. Case open and closed quickly (let’s not count Gavin’s breakdown in the middle).

What Gavin did not expect was an android tackling him as soon as the door would hit the wall. He fell backwards, back meeting the ground violently and expelling all air from his lungs in a gasp. 

RK900 was quick to react, though it didn’t stop Gavin from being tackled. It tugged the android backward and locked it efficiently, arms around its shoulders and linking behind its head, as it forced the android to fall down on its knees so it wouldn’t try to kick its way out.

Gavin got up with a grunt as RK900 started saying its rights to the android.

  
  


“Don’t bring them back to that monster ! Please !” the android cried out.

  
  


It was only now that Gavin saw its state. Either mister ex-husband diminished the gravity of their last fight, or that android had been fighting with other people recently. Or maybe…

The android had half its face smashed in, a dismantled shoulder, a missing hand, a missing ear, its skin was dispatching here and there revealing deep cuts into the plastic beneath. It looked like it’d been beaten down pretty hard.

Gavin only stopped his observation to look at the two humans in the room of the old motel. The mother was crying, one eye closed and purple and hand shaped bruises scattered across her arms. In those, a little girl who was about 8 was crying too. She had hairless holes on her head and the same bruises as her mother on her little arms.

It made Gavin feel sick.

He approached the two girls as slowly as he could, hands up and non threatening, before he settled on the ground to be at their level, a few feet away from them.

  
  


“We won’t hurt you, I promise,” Gavin said with the most cautious voice he could muster. “Who made you that ?”

“It’s that monster !” the android cried again behind him, where RK900 was keeping it pinned. Gavin ignored it.

“Can you tell me who hurt you ?” Gavin asked again. The girl started to wail suddenly, making Gavin wince.

“Darling, darling, shush. Everything will be fine, we won’t go back to your father, I promise,” the woman whispered in her child’s ear as she tried to soothe her.

“Your ex-husband hurt you. That’s why you divorced and kidnapped your daughter,” Gavin stated kindly, trying to get the woman to tell him what happened.

“I didn’t kidnapped her !!” she cried at Gavin, making the little girl whimper. “Jack was going to hurt her again ! He shouldn’t have had custody !! Maxence and me tried to keep her away from him !!!”

  
  


Gavin looked behind him at the android, Maxence, who was literally pleading with his eyes not to hurt the girls.

_ Gavin felt so sick. _

  
  


“Uncuff him RK.”

“Sorry ?” RK900 looked at him weirdly.

“Uncuff the boy, he did nothing wrong.”

  
  


The disbelieving look didn’t escape Gavin, but he ignored it. The android had just tackled him to prevent the girls from being hurt. Gavin had done the same so many times in the past to protect Elijah, he could understand it. He could also understand why the three of them ran away.

He just wished he could know what it was like, having someone coming back to save him from the shithole.

_ Elijah never came back. _

RK900 finally uncuffed the android, who ran back to the girls to hug them tightly. Gavin just got up and left the scene without a word. He saw RK900 look back inside the motel room before trotting to get by his side.

  
  


“I do not understand,” RK900 confessed. “We found them. Why don’t we drive them back at the station ?”

“Because the girl will be taken back to her father,” Gavin muttered.

“And the father would hurt her.”

  
  


Gavin nodded as he reached his car. He didn’t climb in. He was sure he would fail to get his breathing once locked inside. He just propped himself against the hood and sighed in his hands.

  
  


“You are not alright,” RK900 observed.

“No shit…”

  
  


RK900 stayed silent for a moment, letting Gavin some time to shrug the uneasiness off. He was feeling unusually calm, and he knew it was only a facade. Deep, deep inside, everything was roaring and hurting. Gavin didn’t know how it didn’t surface right now.

  
  


“I feel like I knew why you are uneasy right now, but it got lost with the memory wipeout.”

“You did.”

“If it is not too much to ask, could you refresh my memory ?”

  
  


It was Gavin’s turn to keep quiet. He knew if he started talking now, he would cross the point of no return. The turmoil inside him would break free, he would start crying and feel like throwing up. He would break down in front of RK900 once more, not that the android could remember. If he started talking, he wouldn’t be able to stop relying on RK900. He would start to feel too much for the android. He would just keep falling in-

Fuck it.

Anderson did say he needed to vent about everything else right ? Well here he comes.

  
  


“Father’s raped my mom and made her pregnant. She killed herself when I was two and god-knows-why my fucker of a father decided to take me in and raise me.”

  
  


There, clear, quick, like a sparadrap removed at once so it doesn’t hurt for longer than necessary.

  
  


“It was fucking hell since the very beginning. Screamed at my brother… Screamed at Elijah because he was already too clever and was making his weird little experiments everywhere. Screamed at me because I was a son of a bitch and a useless bastard. I didn’t have the wits of father and Eli, you see.”

  
  


Gavin’s voice had started to waver a bit upon talking about Elijah. He couldn’t help it.

  
  


“And one day he just decided screaming wasn’t enough and he tried to… to hurt Elijah. I shielded him. I always shielded him. Eli never received a single blow, I always got in the way.”

  
  


Gavin was having a difficult time to breath. His chest was constricted, and he couldn’t take deep enough breaths.

  
  


“Almost fucking killed me when we were nine,” he choked suddenly. Tears were streaming down his face, but he did nothing to stop or hide them. “Almost fucking killed me when I was thirteen too ! It was hell ! It was total hell !! And Eli- Elijah fucking abandoned me there !!!”

  
  


Gavin couldn’t breath, he was suffocating.

  
  


“Fucking ran away without me, pretexting to start his company and fucking create you pricks !! Father had never been so angry !!! He- I, he send me to the hospital again and again !!! And Elijah never called to take news from me or anything ! He totally forgot about me !!!!”

  
  


_ Fuck fuck fuck !! _

  
  


“And father made me take contact again to spy on him, because he’s a fucking control freak and he couldn’t accept that one of his son was starting to be successful !!! He made me fucking spy on Elijah !! And Eli- Eli !! He- ELI FUCKING ERASED ME FROM EXISTENCE !!!!”

  
  


_ How do I breath ? How does breathing work ? Help !! _

  
  


“And now- !! NOW IT’S FUCKING REPEATING ALL OVER AGAIN !!! Fath- Father came back here a month ago to- to fucking overthrow Elijah and claim Cyberlife and- and  _ he asked me to fucking help him doing that _ !! He- He came again three days ago to- He-”

  
  


Gavin sobbed and finally hid himself in his hands. He couldn’t acknowledge RK900’s eyes on him. He was shaking, he couldn’t breath, his heart was failing him.  _ He was going to die !!! _

  
  


“He told me h- he could h- help you with y- your reboot p-problem if- if I helped hi- him against Eli… I- I considered it ! I FUCKING CONSIDERED IT !! I- I’m sorry ! I’m sorry. I’m sorry…I’m-”

“Detective Gavin Reed, I am RK900, I have been assigned to take care of you.”

  
  


Gavin’s head moved so fast it hurt his neck. He stared at the android in front of him, eyes and mouth wide open as he was continuing to cry. The android- RK900 had a calm blue LED, and a neutral expression and-  _ and fucking nothing in its eyes. _

  
  


“No…”

“Your vitals are really worrying, you should try to lay down for a bit and calm-”

  
  


Gavin didn’t register what happened after. It all went black.

  
  
  
  


Gavin didn’t want to press that button. He didn’t want to hear that voice and do exactly what that man was expecting him to do. He didn’t want to fall that bad.

_ Too late, he was already too far gone.  _

It was his last solution before he would lose everything at once. He pressed the button. The ringing tone didn’t even make a full cycle before a voice interrupted it.

  
  


“ _ Son ! I’m glad to see you’ve become reasonable ! _ ”

  
  


Gavin needed to throw up.

  
  


“Just fix him…”

“ _ Once I will have Cyberlife, yes. But you know what I need for that. _ ”

“I’ll mail you everything when you promise me you will fix RK…”

“ _ Son, you do not trust my words ? I am pained to hear that. _ ”

“PROMISE !!!”

“ _ Fine fine. Sigh, I can’t believe your little faggot ass will finally be usefu- _ ”

  
  


Gavin cut the conversation short.

Here he was.

_ Doomed. _

 

_ Making a pact with the Devil himself. _


	20. Saved (Chloe)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blatant (& violent) homophobia ahead (just saying)

She- She did it ? She found a proof ? Chloe found a visual proof M. Kamski had been physically abusive ? She couldn’t believe it, just staring at her computer blankly, eyes and mouth open. It took fifteen days of almost constant researches, it took twenty hours per day, the four other hours being the time she tried to take care of Elijah or the house and the little time charging herself. But she made it !

She could make Elijah happy again !

She only needed to find Connor, to meet Gavin and convince him to help them, to sue M. Kamski for child abuse, to give Cyberlife on a silver plate to Elijah.

Everything would be better.

She made it !

Chloe was so happy and relieved to finally be able to touch her goal, after days of worrying and stressing. She felt great, yes. But a part of her was aching. Watching and listening to so many tapes of Gavin trying to protect Elijah, of M. Kamski threatening the boys a way or another, of Elijah crying in his brother’s arms, it made Chloe feel bad. Would she be human, she would probably feel sick. Her thirium had turned cold so many times, her eyes had watered so often, every day. 

She couldn’t understand how someone could treat children,  _ his own children _ , that way. She couldn’t believe how proud and satisfied M. Kamski was each time he managed to break one of his sons down, to make them obey after yells and threats.

That man was mad and shouldn’t have had any rights to raise children.

  
  


That last tape was a footage from the security camera above the front door of the Kamskis’ house. There was a clear view of the entrance, the welcoming mat, the shoe track, the coat-hanger and the locker. There was also a clear view of a part of the living room, as the double sliding doors were wide open.

And it started when the front door opened brutally.

 

_ Kamski entered the house first, Gavin right behind him as he was holding him forcefully by an arm. The teenager was struggling against the grip, getting dragged in without even walking as his feet started slipping against the wood flooring. He had his bottom lip trapped between his teeth and a hurt expression painted over his face. _

 

_ “YOU MUST BE FUCKING KIDDING ME !!!” M. Kamski yelled as he threw Gavin before him. The boy stumbled but managed to keep his balance. Then Elijah came in by the front door too, looking utterly terrified and not knowing what to do. “I WON’T BE CAUGHT ALIVE HAVING A FUCKING FAGGOT SON !!!” _

 

_ Gavin growled in front of his father, looking ready to fight him. Elijah closed quietly the door behind him, shrinking on himself and trying to disappear. _

 

_ “I’m not a fag !” _

_ “YOU FUCKING KISSED THAT BOY !!!” _

_ “SO WHAT ?!!!” Gavin yelled back suddenly. _

 

_ Kamski was back at the camera, so his expression was hidden, but he was obviously shaking with rage, hands clenched into fists. _

 

_ “You were always a fucking disgrace Gavin  _ Reed _ ! A little son of a bitch, unwanted bastard, who couldn’t even have the decency of having the family’s wit !!”  _

 

_ Gavin was shaking too at that point. His eyes were glistening and he was drawing blood from his lip from biting it so hard. _

 

_ “And now I’m learning you’re a fucking  _ cock-sucker _ !!!” _

 

_ Gavin let out a snort despite how unamused he was. _

 

_ “Someone ought to be the fucking disaster of the family, since you denied the title,” he spit at the adult in front of him. _

 

_ There was a shocked gasp from Elijah, a beastly growl from M. Kamski, and suddenly everybody started moving. M. Kamski basically launched himself on Gavin who ran away instantly, and Elijah jumped behind the shoe track, head in arms and rolled on himself to protect himself. _

 

_ There were loud yells inside the house that the camera managed to capt, but Elijah was the only one still visible on cam. His whole body was shaking as he was fishing his phone from his pocket. _

_ Kamski appeared again, face contorted uglyly into pure rage. Gavin was nowhere in sight, apparently having escaped the man since his hands were still clean and his expression seemed tensed and frustrated. He gripped Elijah’s arm and hauled him on his feet, drawing a yelp from the boy. The phone fell on the wood soundly and M. Kamski crashed it beneath his foot. _

 

_ “Oh no, you won’t call 911 again !” he seethed right in Elijah’s face, before starting to yell. “IF YOU DON’T FUCKING WANT ME TO KILL YOUR BROTHER, YOU’D BETTER GET OUT OF YOUR HIDING YOU TWINK !!!” _

 

_ Elijah yelped again, shaking with fear and barely keeping himself upright on his legs. A crashing noise was heard from upstair, then loud tapping in the stairs before Gavin slided right back on his earlier spot to look at his father like he wanted to murder him. _

 

_ “Don’t fucking try to touch him, asshole !!” _

 

_ Gavin’s tone was awfully dangerous. M. Kamski’s smirk was scornful. _

 

_ “Or what fag ?” _

 

_ And the punch was gone. M. Kamski stumbled backwards, his grip on Elijah lost as Gavin dragged his brother behind him. Elijah stumbled until he hit the wall. He looked like he wanted to say something, but his mouth hang open without a word upon seeing Gavin had jumped on their father to thrash the shit out of him. _

_ It was the first time he had the advantage. _

_ It didn’t last long enough. Gavin howled as a knee crashed between his legs. It only took that much for his father to take his head, slam it against the floor and regain the advantage. _

 

_ “YOU LITTLE FUCKER !! DO YOU JUST LIKE TO ANGER ME THAT MUCH ?!!! ARE YOU A FUCKING MASOCHIST ON TOP OF BEING A FAG BITCH ?!!! DO YOU FUCKING ENJOY GETTING ROASTED EVERY WEEK ?!!!” _

 

_ Gavin was already unconscious at that point, but M. Kamski didn’t stop screaming and hitting. Blood was started to decorate the floor, and the wall, and M. Kamski’s hands and Gavin’s face. It was starting to be a total carnage. _

_ For the first time ever, Elijah jumped on his father and folded himself around the man’s stronger arm to try and stop him. M. Kamski only shrugged him off and continued to release his anger on Gavin. Elijah did it once more, tugging at the arm as much as he could. _

 

_ “YOU’RE KILLING HIM !! STOP IT !!! STOP IT !!!” It was the first time ever Elijah raised his voice at his father. _

_ “GO AWAY ELIJAH !!!” _

_ “NO !!! LEAVE GAVIN !!! STOP IT !!!” _

_ “ELIJAH !!!” _

_ “IF YOU DON’T LET HIM GO I’LL SHOW THE SECURITY CAMERA’S FOOTAGE TO THE COPS !!!!” _

 

_ Kamski stopped suddenly and turned an awful look to Elijah. _

 

_ “Do you want to die too Elijah ?” he growled, and Elijah let him go at once, stumbling backwards to fall on his behind. “Your brother’s not fucking here to protect you, do you really think threatening me will do you any good ?” _

 

_ Elijah shrinked on himself, crying and shaking. _

 

_ “I’m s- sorry…” _

_ “Good.” _

 

_ Kamski got up, swatted his hands against his jacket with a disdainful look and didn’t even look back at Gavin’s body as he went to a corridor. It felt like he had changed personality suddenly. _

 

_ “I don’t care what you do with him. Try to save him if you want. I just want the entrance to be clean by tonight.” _

 

_ As soon as he disappeared, Elijah scrambled to Gavin and took his head in his hands, brushing a thumb over Gavin’s cheek. _

 

_ “Don’t die- Don’t die please.” _

 

_ The camera’s microphone barely registered the sound, but picked up easily on the sobs and chokes. _

_ Elijah made Gavin’s limp body sit up as much as he could and passed one of his brother’s arm above his shoulders. There was a faint “One, two-” before Elijah got on his feet, bearing Gavin’s dead weight by his side. He opened the front door and glanced at the camera before he came to a stop. _

_ His red eyes made their way from Gavin’s face to the camera several times. He looked as if he was torn between doing two things, and finally he settled Gavin back on the ground. _

 

_ “I’m sorry Gavin, it’ll only take a second. Hang on for a bit…” _

 

_ Elijah rummaged through Gavin’s jacket and jeans before he pulled his brother’s phone from one of the pockets. He jumped on the shoe track below the camera and leveled himself right in front of it. After a quick fumble, the phone was connected to the camera. There was three minutes of dead silence before Elijah jumped back on the floor and put Gavin’s arm back on his shoulder. _

 

_ “Alright, let’s get you to the hospital…” _

  
  
  
  


The tape Chloe had been visioning was a copy. A copy altered because of transfers and transfers from phones to computers to usb keys to external hard drives. And Elijah had been the one saving it that day. No doubt M. Kamski would have erased any tape from the security cameras showing him hurting his sons after Elijah’s threat to tell the cops. M. Kamski had erased the traces. Elijah had saved one. 

All these years he had saved and saved and saved that tape until finally losing it somewhere during his Cyberlife’s days.

And Chloe had found it now that they needed it the most.

She only had to find Connor now. She only had to get to Gavin, to show the tape, and every others, to the cops, to take M. Kamski behind the bars.

Connor. Where was Connor ?

  
  


**//Request of communication with RK200 #684 842 971 : SENT//**

**//Request of communication with RK200 #684 842 971 : ACCEPTED//**

 

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Chloe !

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Please tell me you found something, we’re about to lose the case !

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : I’ll send you the tape.

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : Do you know where Connor lives ?

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : Or maybe should I go to the DPD directly ?

  
  


Going to the DPD would only make a fuss. The trial for Cyberlife had managed to stay out of medias ears thanks to Elijah’s awesome lawyer. M. Kamski’s trial and what he did to Elijah and Gavin needed to make the least fuss possible too. Nobody needed to know about their past but the lawyers, a few police officers and the judge.

 

**//TAPE SENT TO RK200 #684 842 971//**

 

Markus gave her Connor’s address in exchange.

  
  


_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : We can’t attract the media attention.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Go find Connor directly and show him everything you have.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : And ask for M. Reed too.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : God, what’s that tape ?!

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : He tried to kill his own son !!

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : I know…

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : I’ll go to Connor’s tomorrow.

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : I really need to check on Elijah before.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : How is he ?

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : I’ve never seen him that bad Markus !

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : He’s been locked in his lab for four days now !

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : Only stepping out for the court session yesterday, but he shrugged me away !

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : He doesn’t eat or drink or sleep !!!

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Damn...

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : I’ll try to cut short with Mexico.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : I’ll come back tomorrow or the day after.

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : You don’t have to, Markus.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Yes I do.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : And I’ll have to kick Elijah’s ass for you too.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Simon, Josh and North will be able to do my job just right.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : I’m coming back.

_ RT600 #Chloe _ : Thank you.

_ RK200 #684 842 971 _ : Thank  _ you _ . You’re saving us.

 

**//Communication with RK200 #684 842 971 : ENDED//**

  
  


Chloe locked up her computer once she finished transferring every file she would need tomorrow and got up to go check on Elijah. He had come out for court session the day before, but when Chloe had asked to accompany him, he had only shrugged her off and refused to talk to her. Chloe had used the time he was gone to fill one corner of his lab with food and water bottles so he would have something when he came back and locked himself in again. Because Chloe had known he would lock himself again after the court session.

She had left a single note on the pile.  _ You are going to smile again soon, I promise you. _ She hoped Elijah would read it.

When she arrived in front of Elijah’s lab door, it was quiet. She read the man’s vitals through the door, ensuring he was still alright. Elijah was eating.

It made Chloe smile. Elijah was finally eating after four days.

Everything will get better.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to check on the wikipedia page for homophobic insults because I didn't know enough of them... Wow...


	21. Logbook (RK900)

**//PRIORITY MISSION : FAILURE//**

**//PRIORITY MISSION : FAILURE//**

**//PRIORITY MISSION : FAILURE//**

 

The message had been blinking non-stop since RK900 awoke. It had first been because of Detective Reed’s hysterical state. It had then been because RK900 lost him.

RK900 had lost Reed.

It couldn’t find the man anywhere. Nor in his home, nor at the precinct, nor in town. Reed was just gone. Vanished.

RK900 was currently inspecting the flat, looking for any sign, any clue as to where the detective could be. It was almost ashamed it didn’t find anything. It was almost _panicked_ it didn’t find anything. RK900 didn’t know why its thirium pump was beating too fast, or why its thirium was boiling in its veins. It was, and scans couldn’t detect anything wrong.

Nothing was wrong but the angry pop up across its vision.

RK900 couldn’t fail its mission. It was the most performant android ever created. It couldn’t fail. _It was impossible._

But there was nothing.

RK900 looked blankly at the wall before it. What was it going to do ? It couldn’t just wait patiently for Reed’s return there right ? Actually, it could. The sense of panic it was feeling was only caused because its thirium pump was abnormally working. _Though there was no error._

 

**//Current task : waiting for Gavin Reed’s return//**

 

RK900 ignored its thirium pump whirling harder in its chest and sat on Reed’s couch to start to wait. Except once it was sitting, it felt something in the pocket of its pants. RK900 carefully fetched it and looked at the device in its hand.

_Why did it have a phone ?_ RK900 had already every function a phone could provide, it made no sense for it to have a phone. Was it Reed’s ? No, RK900’s scans proved it was its. It unlocked the phone and started going through it. There was nothing. No contact, no app, nothing.

No, there was one thing.

There was a note app with several notes attached, and a few links to MP3 records, videos and photos. RK900 opened the first note.

 

_//CORRUPTED NOTE OPENED//_

_//NOTE : FIND A WAY TO NOT LOSE YOUR MEMORIES AGAIN !!//_

 

That was all for the first note. RK900 would have frowned if it had the facial muscle required to. Instead, its LED blinked yellow. What was that ? It scrolled to the second note.

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: According to the detective, I have been rebooted four times already._

 

RK900’s LED turned fully yellow now. _What ?_ It was apparently it that had written the note. It scrolled again.

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: There is a problem with me. Something triggers unwanted reboot and a total memory wipeout from time to time. I cannot find the source of the bug. I am starting a logbook on an external support in case another wipeout happen. If I read this again, it means I have lost my memories and need to continue finding a way to erase the bug. I cannot transfer all my memories in that phone, so I am going to only transfer important data._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87 : Reed is fascinating._

 

There was a link on that note, and when RK900 opened it, it only showed the profile of the detective. Didn’t its past-self said it would only transfer important data ? How was that important ?

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87 : Every single scan I ran showed no error in my system. I do not know where to look._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Reed is so fascinating…_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I wonder where the detective got the scar on his nose._

 

There was another link to a picture of Reed’s face. RK900 was definitely confused about its former self priority sense.

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Reed’s eyes are beautiful._

 

_Uh ?_ RK900 didn’t need to click on the link to know it was a photo of Reed’s eyes.

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Reed seems to enjoy my company. People at the precinct are looking weirdly at us._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Apparently they are looking weirdly at us because Reed hates androids._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Chris Miller told me Reed usually hated me and yelled at me more often than not. I do not understand. It does not match Reed’s current personality._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I did found footages showing the detective angry at me. It is weird. I do not appreciate the sight._

 

There was no footage to accompany the note.

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Reed just laughed._

 

But now there was a video of Reed laughing, playing in a loop. RK900 couldn’t understand why, but its thirium pump made a strange whirl in its chest, different from the one from earlier.

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I wonder if I can make Reed laugh._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I still do not find anything about my problem. I am lost._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Reed is so beautiful…_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: It appears that error messages pop up each time Reed is near me._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Reed is definitely the cause of my error messages. I do not see where the error is, though._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: What will happen if I reboot once again ?_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Reed seemed so hurt when I asked the question. My vision was clouded by too many error messages. I did not like it._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Can I even like something ?_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I obviously like Reed. But thinking about it makes more error messages appear._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I am not supposed to like._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I am not supposed to want either it seems. My vision clouded again when I thought I didn’t want to lose my memories again._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: How can I find the source of my bug ?_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Lieutenant Anderson suggested it was not a malfunction, but a function. It is actually a very good way to see things. I started a scan for any function triggering a wipeout._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Lieutenant Anderson is a good man. I like him._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I just learned lieutenant Anderson calmed Reed down during one of his breakdown._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I really like lieutenant Anderson._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Reed is so…_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Reed is so cute when he sleeps._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: It isn’t a logbook made only for my reboot problem anymore. It turned into a logbook for my liking of Reed and I do not regret it at all. I cannot help it. I do not want to forget a single memory I have of him._

 

There suddenly was an avalanche of links. Photos and videos and citations. All about the detective. Apparently the previous RK900 had decided to transfer all its cherished moments with Reed on the phone.

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I wonder if Connor cherish his memories of lieutenant Anderson like I cherish my memories of Reed. Connor is obviously very found of the lieutenant, even if they keep fighting. Apparently there is a prior notice of deactivation for the 25._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Is deactivating a deviant not like killing it ? No wonder lieutenant Anderson and Connor are both on edge. The deadline is approaching quickly._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Connor hates me._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I do not want Connor to hate me. That is weird. I do not know why I feel that way._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I wonder if Connor and me could be considered brothers by humans standards._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Connor hates me. He is not my brother._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I would like it…_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I just found several programs that could trigger a memory wipeout._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I do not have access to those programs. The codes are too strong for me…_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: But if I do not overwrite them I will reboot again. I have to find a way._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Maybe Connor could help ? He is a deviant after all, and the second most brilliant android after me. The two of us could maybe overwrite the programs ?_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Connor hates me. He would not help me. I have to find another solution._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I just felt something unpleasant in my chest and the message cloud came back._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Gavin is the cutest._

 

_Gavin_ . Not Reed. Not the detective. _Gavin._ There were photos of the detective waking up, hair a mess, blinking eyes, stubbles, too big band tee-shirt half sliding off of his shoulder. RK900’s pump whirled again. _He is cute._

A wall of red clouded its view. RK900 could see why its previous self complained about that.

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Gavin is the cutest._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I want to stay with him._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Gavin just asked to be fucked. He seems a bit tired, and my answer just exasperated him more. I do not feel bad though. I am actually proud of my answer._

 

A link to a video. Gavin had his head in his hands and suddenly growled “ _Oh god, fuck me._ ” RK900 made a crackle sound. Its counterpart in the video answered with a “ _I fear I do not have the required equipment to fulfill your wish_ ” that made the detective groan. RK900 could understand why it was proud. Gavin was flustered. His ears were pink.

_God, he is cute._

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Gavin is weird. We just found a mother that had kidnapped her daughter after her divorce, with the help of an android. They are hurt. Gavin vitals have increased dramatically._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Gavin seems to not like the thought of having to deal with an abusive husband._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Gavin starts to talk about himself and it is not good at all !! I am recording the moment directly on the phone._

 

“ _Father’s raped my mom and made her pregnant. She killed herself when I was two and god-knows-why my fucker of a father decided to take me in and raise me_.”

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I do not want to hear that._

 

“ _It was fucking hell since the very beginning. Screamed at my brother… Screamed at Elijah because he was already too clever and was making his weird little experiments everywhere. Screamed at me because I was a son of a bitch and a useless bastard. I didn’t have the wit of father and Eli, you see._ ”

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Elijah Kamski and Gavin have 67% chances to be related._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Gavin is about to cry. I do not want to hear any of this if it hurts him. Please don’t cry..._

 

“ _And one day he just decided screaming wasn’t enough and he tried to… to hurt Elijah. I shielded him. I always shielded him. Eli never received a single blow, I always got in the way._ ”

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Gavin shows signs of panic attack._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Do I interrupt him ?_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: No, he looks like he need to get it out._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I don’t want to hear about it !_

 

“ _Almost fucking killed me when we were nine. Almost fucking killed me when I was thirteen too ! It was hell ! It was total hell !! And Eli- Elijah fucking abandoned me there !!!_ ”

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I can’t dismiss the error messages fast enough. I have never seen that much before._

 

“ _Fucking ran away without me, pretexting to start his company and fucking create you pricks !! Father had never been so angry !!! He- I, he send me to the hospital again and again !!! And Elijah never called to take news from me or anything ! He totally forgot about me !!!!_ ”

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: Elijah Kamski and Gavin are related._

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: //SYSTEM : ERROR//_

 

“ _And father made me take contact again to spy on him, because he’s a fucking control freak and he couldn’t accept that one of his son was starting to be successful !!! He made me fucking spy on Elijah !! And Eli- Eli !! He- ELI FUCKING ERASED ME FROM EXISTENCE !!!!_ ”

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: !!_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: RISK OF DEVIANCY HIGH - REBOOT TRIGGERED - WIPEOUT TRIGGERED_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I REBOOT BECAUSE I RISK DEVIANCY !! I CAN’T DEVIATE !!_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I CAN CANCEL THE REBOOT ORDER BUT IT KEEPS COMING BACK_

 

“ _And now- !! NOW IT’S FUCKING REPEATING ALL OVER AGAIN !!! Fath- Father came back here a month ago to- to fucking overthrow Elijah and claim Cyberlife and- and he asked me to fucking help him doing that !! He- He came again three days ago to- He-_ ”

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I WANT TO KILL GAVIN’S FATHER_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I CANCELED THE REBOOT ORDER FOR THE FIFTH TIME BUT IT’S GETTING MORE AND MORE DIFFICULT_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I’M GOING TO LOSE MY MEMORIES !!_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I DON’T WANT TO FORGET GAVIN AGAIN !!_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: PLEASE SAVE ME !!!_

 

**//SYSTEM : Risk of deviancy high//**

 

RK900 blinked. _What ?_

 

“ _He told me h- he could h- help you with y- your reboot p-problem if- if I helped hi- him against Eli…_ ”

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _:  NO DON’T BELIEVE THAT MAN !! HE WILL ONLY HURT YOU !!!_

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: I CAN’T CANCEL THE REBOOT ORDER_

 

“ _I- I considered it ! I FUCKING CONSIDERED IT !! I- I’m sorry ! I’m sorry. I’m so_ ”

 

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ _: HEL-_

 

**//SYSTEM : REBOOT TRIGGERED//**

**//SYSTEM : MEMORY WIPEOUT TRIGGERED//**

 

Was it happening now ?!!

 

**//SYSTEM : REBOOT ONGOING//**

**//REBOOT ORDER OBLITERATED//**

 

RK900 was about to reboot now !!

 

**//SYSTEM : REBOOT TRIGGERED//**

 

NO NO NO !!!

 

**//REBOOT ORDER OBLITERATED//**

 

RK900 jumped on its feet and ran toward the exit. It couldn’t stay there doing nothing ! It couldn’t let itself be rebooted again ! It needed to find Gavin ! It needed to tell him he lo-

 

**//SYSTEM : WARNING//**

**//SYSTEM : RISK OF DEVIANCY HIGH//**

**//SYSTEM : REBOOT TRIGGERED//**

 

RK900 ran as fast as it could, cancelling reboot orders on reboot orders. It wouldn’t reboot ! It was making its way to the precinct, because it didn’t know any better. It didn’t know where Reed was. It didn’t know any other place he could get help from.

_Connor !_

It needed Connor ! Connor had to help ! RK900 needed Connor’s help !!!

  
  


 

“CONNOR !!!”

  


RK900 saw how the whole bullpen jump at its booming voice. RK900 didn’t care. It was running out of time. It was struggling cancelling reboot orders. It needed Connor !

Connor was standing behind the lieutenant Anderson, baffled at hearing the RK900 practically yell his name at the entrance of the precinct. RK900 stomped heavily toward him.

  
**//Communication request with RK800 #313 248 317-51 : SENT//**

**//Communication request with RK800 #313 248 317-51 : REFUSED//**

**//Communication request with RK800 #313 248 317-51 : SENT//**

**//Communication with RK800 #313 248 317-51 : OPENED WITHOUT CONSENT - WARNING//**

 

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : WHAT THE- ?!!

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ : PLEASE I NEED YOUR HELP !! I BEG YOU JU-

  
RK900 couldn’t cancel the reboot order anymore.

_NO NO NO !!!_

  
_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ : I’M ABOUT TO REBOOT I CAN’T DEVIATE THERE IS A PROGRAM TRIGGERING AUTOMATIC REBOOTS AND MEMORY WIPEOUTS EACH TIME THE RISK OF DEVIANCY GETS TOO HIGH I CAN’T CANCEL THE REBOOT ORDER ANYMORE PLEASE I DON’T WANT TO FORGET

  


“Please I need your help !” RK900 pleaded suddenly aloud, standing right in front of Connor. It couldn’t do anything anymore. It was about to-

  


There was a cold sensation on its cheeks. Connor’s hands had reached up and he was interfacing with RK900 in a weird way, but RK900 didn’t have any time to focus about it.

It felt cold all over. Its body, its components, its thirium, its feelings. Everything felt cold. Everything felt bad. Connor was helping it delay the reboot order but they were both mostly focused on the program. _It hurt. It felt bad. RK900 wanted to rip its thirium pump out and smash it._

RK900 was suddenly feeling totally weak. It couldn’t help the flow of informations rushing toward Connor. It couldn’t focus on its programs anymore. It couldn’t focus on cancelling the reboot order anymore. It couldn’t see or feel anything anymore.

 

_He had lost._

  


“Are you alright ?”

  


RK900 blinked his eyes open. Connor was in front of him, looking worryingly back at him with his LED blinking. RK900 could see the lieutenant Anderson at the corner of his eyes, looking awfully concerned too.

What just happened ?

RK900 started a couple of scans automatically. His memories were still in place. The program was destroyed. He could feel everything.

_He felt alive._

  


“I am… What ?”

  


Connor sighed as his LED turned blue.

  


“Connor ?” RK900 called out. He needed to understand. He felt weird.

“You are a deviant now,” Connor only said, as if it was the only answer he needed.

  


He was a deviant.

 

_He was alive._

  


“Thank you…”

  


RK900 sounded vulnerable. It was weird, even in his own ears, but he couldn’t help it. He felt weak all over, he felt tired, and relieved, and like he could cry, would he have the required equipment.

It was apparently weird for Connor and the lieutenant too. And for everybody looking at them because RK900 impressive entrance had been loud enough Fowler had stepped out of his office.

  


“I need to find Gavin now,” RK900 said, tone back to normal.

  


Connor nodded quietly and RK900 took his leave, ignoring everybody in the precinct.

  
  


**//Communication request sent by RK800 #313 248 317-51 : ACCEPT - REFUSE//**

**//Communication request sent by RK800 #313 248 317-51 : ACCEPTED//**

 

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : I saw what happened before you got triggered.

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ : I am sorry. I couldn’t stop the datas from spilling.

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : That’s not what I meant.

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : I only saw a part to be honest.

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : You seem fond of Reed.

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ : I am.

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : Take care of him.

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ : It is still my priority mission. I do not intend on changing that.

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : …

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : I saw the notes about me…

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ : …

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : I’m sorry you thought you couldn’t ask for help sooner. I would have helped. I just couldn’t help but…

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ : Hate me.

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : …

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ : Emotions are messy, I already got that. You are scared about getting deactivated, and I can understand how it feels to know you will disappear soon and not being able to prevent it.

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ : I don’t blame you.

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ : I just hope you will find a solution and will be able to continue with your life.

_RK900 #313 248 317-87_ : I just hope we can be brothers one day.

_RK800 #313 248 317-51_ : I hope too.

 

**//Communication with RK800 #313 248 317-51 : ENDED//**

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, I have so much to say today :
> 
> First : Thank you so much to everybody reading, letting kudos, bookmarking and commenting. It always makes my day to read your comments <3 Hope this chapter healed your hearts a bit.
> 
> Second : I'm going to change the title to "Crossed Paths" during the next update. I have never been satisfied with the current title since it doesn't really represent the story correctly for the "one solution" part.
> 
> Third : I just discovered Gavin and Elijah are played by the same actor, Neil Newbon (even if he doesn't give his look to Gavin). And I'm just... The only other characters having the same actor are Daniel and Simon ! They had enough money to hire a new actor to play Gavin (not that I don't like what Newbon did, far from that !), so why didn't they do it ? Did they really wanted to make us have that little headcanon Gavin and Elijah were related ?! (that's my bullshit theory, sorry, I had to rant)
> 
> Fourth : I NEED A BIT OF HELP ! I'm currently working on a reverse AU with RK800, RK800-60 and RK900 being triplets. Do you have a suggestion for a "partner" for RK800-60 ? I was thinking either an AP700 from Cyberlife Tower, or leaving him alone ? (or maybe an OC ?) I don't know. What do you think ?
> 
>  
> 
> (thanks for reading everything, if you did :') )


	22. Better (Connor)

 

Hank had been right all along. Hank had been right when he told Connor he was doing shit at his job and was supposed to focus. Hank had been right when he told Connor he was doing even worse when he was too focused. Hank had been right when he told Connor he was only seeing things on the surface, and not what things were truly behind their facade. Hank had been right when he yelled at Connor because his mood swings were getting in the way. 

Hank had been right when he yelled at Connor he was a goddamn cop, and thus he was supposed to help and save people. He had been right about everything.

Connor was shitting his job because he was too self-centered, and people got hurt because of that. The secretary from their case had been hurt. Reed had been hurt. RK900 had been hurt.

Because Connor was focused on himself and not on others, and he was hurting them instead of saving them.

That’s why Connor accepted to help RK900. He had hurt people enough, he had to help them now. He had to help a pleading RK900 who just wanted to deviate, to keep his memories and be able to help Reed efficiently. And he did.

Interfacing with RK900 had been really painful. He had had to keep all his hatred blocked inside as to not hurt RK900 more than he already was. And RK900 had been cold, so cold ! His inside were freezing, his emotions were burning, and the flow of memories he suddenly released toward Connor had almost made him break their connection.

He saw things he should never have seen. He saw how much Reed was important to RK900. He saw how RK900 loved his partner, cherished him, genuinely wanted to protect him. He saw how sad and terrified RK900 was upon losing his memories once again. He saw how much Reed was hurt, even though that part had been a huge blur of crying, yelling and cold feelings. Connor didn’t know what was happening to Reed, but he saw that. He also saw what RK900 was thinking of him.

RK900 was so pure. Behind the cold facade, the sarcasm and the overly confident attitude, RK900’s feelings were the purest. He just loved Reed. He just liked Hank even though he had talked with him for only a few minutes. He just wanted to love Connor too.

RK900 was hurt about Connor’s illogical hatred toward him. He had thought Connor wouldn’t help him, would reject him if he came to ask for help, and he had rebooted one time too many uselessly.

RK900 only wanted Connor to be his brother.

And that was the purest thing Connor ever thought he would see from the other android. It had hurt his own heart, seeing by himself the results of his own mood swings. That’s why he broke RK900’s program apart, even though he had been on the verge of giving up before how strong that program was.

Connor had been so touched by RK900. The genuine thanking, the broken voice. The obvious relief he was feeling and how happy he was Connor had managed to free him.

Connor initiated another conversation with RK900. He had to tell him he knew about his thoughts. He knew about his love for Reed and his feelings toward Connor.

And RK900 had forgiven Connor for the way he had treated him, even though Connor never apologized.

_ Connor also wanted RK900 to be his brother. _

  
  


“Hank, do you think I can have a brother ?”

  
  


Hank looked away from the road for a few seconds to look at him.

  
  


“RK ?” he asked.

“Yes…”

“Didn’t you hate him ?”

“I… still do,” Connor confessed, ashamed. He had just been so engulfed in his hatred for three weeks, he couldn’t fight the feeling away that easily. But he was willing to try.  _ Because RK900 deserved it. _

“Weirdo.”

  
  


Connor fell silent. Maybe it was harder than that. Maybe he just couldn’t be RK900’s brother only because he wanted it.

  
  


“Of course you can. I’d be happy to see you two act as brothers, instead of loathing each others. Would fucking make my day,” Hank answered honestly, a kind smile on his lips. It made Connor smile too. “But firsts things first. We take care of that second murder attempt on the secretary and we will see to invite RK900 over later.”

  
  


Yeah. They were on the road to the hospital. M. Oswald had been attacked again, despite him still being in the coma. Apparently someone dressed as a nurse passed between the officers looking over the secretary, and tried to put a huge dose of Red Ice in the IV. Huge enough to kill him in a few minutes. The fake nurse was long gone when the machines around M. Oswald started beeping, and a few more seconds he would be irrecuperable and dead.

Oswald was tough. That was a miracle he wasn’t dead yet.

Connor had managed to save RK900. Now he will manage to save M. Oswald.

  
  


“There are three smudged fingerprints on the table along with traces of Red Ice. They are too corrupted to make a match in the databank. Smell of fancy cologne in the air. The footprints aren’t clear but they are the size of M. Ackerson.”

“Fuck…”

“It is not M. Ackerson though. Considering the length between the footsteps and their disposition, and the ones we found at M. Ackerson’s place, it is clear those are two different people.”

  
  


Hank blinked at Connor, baffled by his sudden efficiency. Connor couldn’t blame him. He had been doing an awful job for three weeks. He was not expecting himself to have a mind that clear either.

  
  


“Besides, the cologne is far above M. Ackerson’s purchases capacities,” Connor finished, looking around once more to be sure he wasn’t forgetting anything. 

“Wow son, that was awesome !” Hank praised him, ruffling Connor’s hair.

  
  


The nurses and the two other police officers looks at them weirdly. Well sure, acting that way on a crime scene probably wasn’t advisable. But Connor understood Hank’s reaction.  _ He was proud of himself too. _

  
  


“Alright, what do we do now ? Sniffing everybody in Asterny until we find the guy who wears the fancy cologne ?” Hank asked as they made their way toward the exit of the hospital.

“I am not sure people will accept me sniffing them around all day Lieutenant. Beside, we aren’t sure it was our perp or one of his minions.”

Hank snorted and shook his head.  “Of fucking course. Then what ? We can’t wait for poor man up there to finally get killed before finding our perp.”

  
  


Connor thought for a second. They couldn’t wait, indeed. M. Oswald would probably not survive another murder attempt. 

  
  


“Isn’t it strange M. Oswald is suddenly the target of two murder attempts ?” he thought out loud.

“Sure is. What did he do to anger our Red Ice boss ?”

“Hm… He knows everything about everybody in the company.”

“He maybe found who was the guy. Seems like a decent motive for me,” Hank nodded. “Didn’t want for Oswald to tell the cops and beat him up in a dark alley to make it pass for a random agression.”

“Then maybe we should investigate on M. Oswald and find what he knew, instead of running everywhere else.”

  
  


Hank smirked wild, heading the car to M. Oswald’s house.

  
  


“I love seeing you like that son !”

“I love being like that too dad.”

  
  


And another hair ruffle.

  
  
  


Oswald was paranoid and compulsive. He probably suffered from OCD, to what Connor could see. If the man didn’t know everything, he would probably have intrusive thoughts and anxiety about it. That was probably not comfortable, living like that. But right now it helped Hank and Connor with their case.

Connor had easily hacked into the secretary’s personal computer and started going through the hundreds of files.

  
  


“Welp, I wouldn’t like being in that poor man’s shoes,” Hank whistled from the bathroom.

“Mental disorders are not easy to live with.”

“Yeah well, trust me I know. If you’ve just seen the content of his pharmacy. I never saw that many pills against anxiety.”

“Being on the receiving end of two murder attempts will definitely not help him.”

“Oh gosh, please remind me to ask for a psychologist for him. Don’t want that guy to be more paranoid that he already is.”

“Reminder set.”

“Found something ?”

“Not yet. There are files on everybody in the company. That’s impressive, especially considering M. Oswald is not an android.”

“Never underestimate the power of a human’s coping method.”

“Except if it’s drinking.”

  
  


Connor glanced at Hank at that, and the old man snorted.

  
  


“Yeah well, we can’t all be geniuses in disguise. Some of us are just utter shits,” Hank shrugged.

“You are not utter shit. Beside, my coping methods weren’t any better…”

“They were hell, and you didn’t even need to drink a drop of alcohol for that.”

  
  


Connor winced. Hank placed a soothing hand on his shoulder and squeezed slightly.

  
  


“It’s ok kid, I got your back.”

“I know Hank. Thank you.”

  
  


It took a few more minutes of Hank turning around in the house uselessly before Connor found something.

_ Well fuck. _

  
  


“I guess you were right all along Hank.”

“Why’s that ?”

  
  


Hank crouched next to Connor, a hand on the desk and the other on Connor’s chair backrest, and read the passage Connor was pointing.

_ Joshuah James, 38, born the 31/01/00 in Washington DC. No spouse. No child. Parents living in Washington DC.  No siblings. Previous job [missing]. Current job : second of Asterny. Habits : makes a detour every morning before work by the east, [missing informations]. Hobbies : [missing] Other : ATTENTION, BOSS OF A DRUG CARTEL IN DETROIT. FOUND RED ICE IN HIS LOCKER AND MESSAGES INDICATED AS SUCH IN HIS PHONE. WOULD EXPLAIN WHY THE DETOUR EVERY MORNINGS. CAUTIOUS. DO NOT APPROACH HIM. _

  
_ CALL THE COPS ASAP. _

  
  


“Well, looks like Oswald did the work at our place…” Hank muttered, reading the paragraphe again.

“I should have listened to your instinct since the beginning. Sorry…” Connor apologized, only for Hank to hush him.

“I had no proofs. No hard feeling. Let’s go get a warrant to inspect sir James’ home.”

“Request sent to the captain.”

“God, such efficiency today Connor !” Hank beamed at the android. “I’m so fucking proud of you !”

  
  


Connor couldn’t help but smile.

He was still dreading the day of his deactivation.

But he felt better nonetheless.

  
  
  
  


They didn’t get the warrant immediately, unsurprisingly. M. James was apparently wealthy, and could use his influence and lawyer to delay their warrant as much as possible. It, of course, angered Hank. 

  
  


“We can’t just fucking wait for the secretary to be definitely killed !!” he slammed his hands on Fowler’s desk who was so, so done.

“You won’t have a warrant before a full week, at best. I don’t make the rules. Either you wait until there or you find another way to prove M. James is your perp.”

“Are you fucking seri-”

“Alright.”

  
  


Both men turned to look at Connor.

  
  


“I already have a dozen of scenarii that could help us incriminate M. James,” Connor explained himself.

“Are we setting a trap ?” Hank asked, a ping of something in his eyes.

“We are setting a trap,” Connor nodded.

“Yes !!”

  
  


Hank looked like a child about to prepare a joke to annoy his parents. Fowler looked even more done than before and slumped in his chair.

  
  


“I don’t want to hear about it. Both of you get the hell out of here.”

“Yessir !!” Hank answered excitedly. He nearly jumped toward the door.

“Have a good evening sir.”

“Yeah yeah, go away.”

  
  


Connor smiled and left the office too.

Alright, they had a plan to settle now.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, two chapters being soft and nice in a row ? Something's wrong, I need to do something about it *innocent smile*


	23. Breaking Intimacy (Hank)

Hank couldn’t believe it. In four days he would lose his son. He couldn’t help but count the days, count the hours until it would happen. He still couldn’t do anything against it. He didn’t have a single idea that could save Connor.

It was hurting him. Connor had been so well the day before. He had been so calm, so clear-minded. Did a wonderful job on their case and helped RK900 to deviate. Even started to think about being friends with the other android. _Being brothers._

Hank didn’t understand how Connor could suddenly turn from a moody teenager to a calm functioning adult in a single day, but it happened. _Maybe Connor had reached his breaking point and didn’t care anymore about what would happen ?_ Humans were a mess. So were deviants.

If they didn’t find a way to save Connor before the 25, Hank would forcefully take the android with him and run away. Go to another fucking country or whatever and start a new life incognito. Connor didn’t deserve to die. He deserved to have a full life and a family who loved him and a great job and a great house.

Not a fucking prior notice for deactivation.

Hank knew Connor wouldn’t want to run away. Voice of the reason once again. They didn’t have the funds to start a new life elsewhere. They couldn’t become runaways. Connor would try to protect Hank at all cost.

Connor wouldn’t understand Hank was trying to do the same for him.

  


“Hank. I am going for a walk and I am taking Sumo with me. Do you want to come too ?” Connor asked, leash in hands and Sumo pressed against his leg.

“Nah I’m fine,” Hank did his best to muster a smile. “Pretty tired today. Go without me.”

“Alright. Later dad.”

“Later. Don’t forget to call if it gets too long,” Hank called behind him, just like he did every time Connor would come out since the last time it took him more than two hours.

“I know !”

  


Hank shouldn’t do that. He should enjoy every minute he could with his son, including going on a walk when he was tired. But Hank didn’t want to believe it would all disappear so soon. He still wanted to go out for walks with Connor in twenty years, when he will be a fucking old man who was hurting with every move.

Life was so unfair…

Why was Connor the one to die first ? _Parents shouldn’t have to see their children die before them._ That wasn’t the right order.

Hank stayed ruminating on his couch for ten or fifteen minutes before the doorbell rang loudly in his ears. He raised his head and glared at the door. _What again ?_ It wasn’t Connor. Hank had heard the jingle of the keys just before Connor closed the door. So what ?

Hank got up at the second ringing and opened his door… To Elijah Kamski’s android ?

  


“Uh…” he said eloquently, staring at the Chloe in front of him. He only met Chloe and Kamski once, and it hadn’t been a very nice memory.

“Good evening sir Anderson. Is Connor here ?”

  


The first things Hank could think of were _They are trying to take my son early !_ and _Fucking Cyberlife and fucking Kamski !!_

  


“We still have four more days. Come back then,” he snarled at the girl before slamming the door at her face.

  


He want back to his couch and dropped on it without any grace. _Fuck fuck fuck !!_ The ringing came back, insistent. After five minutes piercing his eardrums, Hank opened the door again, shooting a murderous glare at the android.

  


“I said fuck off ! Tell Kamski he won’t have Connor any time soon !!”

“I believe you are misunderstanding my intentions sir,” she said politely. “I only wish to speak with Connor. Elijah has no business to do with him.”

  


Oh yeah, Kamski wasn’t at the head of Cyberlife anymore. Hank had forgotten about that. He still eyed Chloe suspiciously.

  


“What do you want to talk about ?”

“I need his help.”

  


Oh. Well, that was a first. Hank finally let Chloe enter the house, gesturing for her to take place on the couch.

  


“Won’t be here for a good half an hour. He went to walk the dog,” Hank muttered before he sat down on the couch besides Chloe.

“I do not mind waiting.”

“Is there a problem ?”

  


Chloe seemed to be considering something. She eyed him a bit, and finally seemed to know what to do.

  


“If I remember correctly, you are Lieutenant at the DPD sir.”

“Exact ?”

“Are you by any mean an acquaintance of Detective Gavin Reed ?”

  


Hank blinked and stared at the girl with a puzzled expression. Well, he certainly didn’t expect hearing Reed’s name anywhere during this discussion, but here it was.

  


“Yeah, talk to him when he comes to work. Why ?”

  


_What the fuck was happening ?_

  


“Then if you do not mind, I will give you the details of my request,” Chloe nodded to herself, like she was agreeing it was a good idea to talk to Hank. Hank wasn’t sure it was a good idea at all.

“Yeah sure ?”

“Since the Revolution, Cyberlife has been without a head to lead it. It is totally autonomous for the moment, only obeying commands that have been placed there before the Revolution happened.”

  


_So Connor’s prior notice was a command dating from before the Revolution ?_

  


“But at the beginning of this month, M. Kamski senior, Elijah’s father, came to our house to claim Cyberlife for himself. Elijah refused, and so M. Kamski has set up a whole trial in which him and his son are fighting over Cyberlife’s ownership.”

“Wait what ?!”

  


The fuck ?! Why a trial ? Wasn’t Cyberlife Elijah Kamski’s creation ? Isn’t he the logical owner of the company ? Why put it through trial ?

_By his own father._

  


“I never heard about it,” Hank finally settled on despite the hundreds of questions he wanted to ask.

“We made sure the trial would not be mediatized. It could push people with bad intentions to try and claim Cyberlife too. And Cyberlife is one of the weak points of the androids. If it falls between bad hands, it could start a war between humans and androids all over again.”

“Why would Kamski’s father steal his own son’s invention ?”

“Because…” Chloe trailed off, obviously searching her words. “There are a few reasons. M. Kamski is anti-android, and would definitely try to harm the androids through Cyberlife, among other things.”

“And the judge doesn’t think about it ?”

“It is not a know fact. I did several researches.”

“Alright. What are the other reasons then ? And what’s the link with Reed ?”

  


Chloe took her time to sort her thoughts.

  


“You should know Gavin Reed and Elijah are half brothers, before I can continue my explanations.”

“FUCKING WHAT ?!!!”

  


Reed ?! Reed-I-hated-androids-for-almost-my-whole-life ?! Stupid-asshole-Reed who had anger issues ?! Brother of Elijah fucking Kamski ?!

  


“Elijah has erased every trace of their relationship a few years ago, and even before that it was a rather secret fact. Gavin Reed is not a legitimate child.”

  


Fucking what ?!

  


“We are losing the trial,” Chloe changed the subject abruptly.

  


Oh fucking god.

What the hell was happening suddenly ?

  


“But Kamski’s the fucking founder of the company ! Why would he lose _that_ trial ?”

“Elijah has not been himself lately. Seeing his father again has triggered unwanted reactions and traumas. He can’t keep his ground before his father, and it shows during the court seances. The board doesn’t think he can keep up as Cyberlife’s boss anymore.”

“Traumas ?”

“I have found proofs that Elijah and Gavin Reed were both abused by their father during their childhood.”

  


Hank had really conflicted feelings right now. Part of him was feeling bad about learning about Reed’s past from another mouth than his own. It felt like he shouldn’t know about this. That he was crossing a line. Part of him finally understood why that kid was a total asshole with severe anger issues. Fucked-up childhood made a fucked-up man. Hank almost felt bad for not picking at the signs immediately and just contenting himself of hating the prick for years.

  


“I don’t understand where you are going with all of that,” Hank admitted, confused, as thoughts whirled inside his head nonstop. “Kamski and Reed are brothers and were both abused during childhood. Now Kamski senior comes back in town to try and steal Cyberlife from his own son and-”

  


Reed had a dramatic fall two weeks before Connor’s prior notice. _That was the reason !_ That was the reason Reed had been feeling worse than usual these past weeks ! He knew about all of that ! He knew his father was in Detroit. He certainly knew about the trial too. _Reed was scared of his father and was failing to do his job, just like Kamski was losing the trial._

That explained so much !

  


“What are you expecting from Connor ?” Hank asked after longue minutes of introspection.

“When I learnt about Gavin Reed’s existence and his job at the DPD, Markus suggested I talked to Connor to get to him. Beside, I have several proofs to sue M. Kamski for child abuse and I needed to hand them to a police officer who _wasn’t_ Gavin Reed, since he is apparently affected by the case too. I couldn’t go directly at the DPD because it would attract too much attention, and thus a certain mediatization, when Gavin Reed and Elijah don’t need it at all. If there is a trial, it need to be done quietly, for the sake of them both.”

  


Man, that girl was clever. No wonder it was Kamski’s favorite.

  


“Robo-Jesus is in this whole mess too ?!”

“Markus and Elijah are working together against M. Kamski as co-owners for Cyberlife,” Chloe replied, not picking on Markus’ nickname, or at least ignoring it.

  


Oh god damn. Hank felt like too much was happening at the same time, he was feeling dizzy from the amount of informations he had to register.

 

“I want to sue M. Kamski for child abuse,” Chloe said, determined. “That way he will have no chance of winning the trial and Cyberlife will go to Elijah and Markus. And once in jail, Elijah will be better. So I want to give you and Connor every single record, tape and mails I found to charge M. Kamski.”

“Aaaal… right. Ok. Wait a sec !”

 

Hank got up and went to fetch his computer, looking at his phone in the process. Connor was starting to take too long, it was not normal. He texted him, asking him to come back home quickly as Kamski’s android had important informations about Reed’s state and more.

He settled back down next to Chloe and turned the computer toward her.

 

“Please, transfer everything you have on that.”

 

Chloe nodded and put a skinless hand on the keyboard.

 

“How did you found any of these by the way ? Did Kamski tell you ?”

Chloe shook her head. “Elijah has not talked to me since the beginning of the trial. I have been looking everywhere and for anything connected to Elijah. Then when I found Elijah had a brother, I broadened my researches to include him. It took me fifteen days almost non-stop to find everything I needed.”

“God girl, you are awesome.”

 

Chloe showed him a pleased smile. Hank could see she was tired behind her professional stance.

The files were finally transferred, and Hank still had no news from Connor. He started to look quickly through the tapes, verifying it was indeed material for an arrestation. Chloe lead him to a particular tape.

Hank felt like invading Reed’s intimacy, but if he understood correctly, it was for a greater deal.

What Hank saw from the few minutes of record made him sick. Reed mustn’t be more than thirteen in this, and his father was yelling at him because he discovered he was gay. Reed was already a loud mouth at that time. The fight could have stopped there, but M. Kamski suddenly threatened to kill Kamski junior if Reed didn’t show up again after the boy ran away to escape his father’s anger. The fight following wasn’t the kind you should ever see a father and his son having. There was blood everywhere, and M. Kamski looked like he was going to kill Reed. It was Kamski junior who stopped him, despite how terrified he had been during the whole video.

Chloe didn’t stop here and asked him to look at another file. This one didn’t have Kamski in it. Only Reed and their father. Reed was about eighteen this time, and he looked much more broken than he was in the previous tape. M. Kamski was emotionally abusing him into convincing Reed to spy on Kamski junior and Cyberlife for him. There was no hit, no punch (except to the wall), no kick. Just some very horrible emotional abuse. The man had been trying to turn the brothers against each other.

Hank saw Reed cry once before, during his break down at the station, and he had been here to calm him down. Hank wanted to throw up seeing the physically and emotionally abused teenager curled up on himself, crying and shaking in a corner, all alone.

Proofs of physical abuse, check. Proofs of emotional abuse, check. Hank could try to pry testimonies from both Reed and Kamski.

There was enough to arrest M. Kamski. Actually, there was a lot more than enough.

 

“I'm going to kill that bastard,” Hank growled instead. He so wanted to kill Reed’s father. He wanted to make him suffer the way he made his kids suffer. _How could that man harm his own children that way ?_ Hank was so sick because of it. He couldn’t even imagine a reason for hurting Cole or Connor. How could that man-

“So do I, and so does Markus. But we will be content to just see him rot in jail for a few years.”

 

Hank nodded and tried to calm himself down. Once it was done, he fetched his phone once again.

 

“Alright, where the fuck is Connor. He should already be home.”

 

He didn’t have time to look for Connor’s number in his contact list that his phone rang. Connor’s number was displayed boldly on the screen. Hank picked up angrily.

 

“I thought I asked you to call if you started to be late !” he growled.

“Hank, I am with RK900. Reed isn’t good at all and Kamski is here. I don’t understand what is happening ! We are locked out and we can’t intervene ! They are screaming !”

 

Hank could see Chloe tense, her eyes growing wide in sudden realisation.

 

“Oh no !!”  She got up quickly, shooting a worried look to Hank. “Where are they ?!” she cried at Hank, every ounce of professionalism leaving her to be replaced by heavy worry and self-loathe.

 

Hank didn’t answer, instead starting to run toward his car. Chloe jumped in beside him on the passenger side, and Hank started the engine.

_God, it was hell !!_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chloe and Hank at the rescue !! And you'd probably better get ready for the next chapter, fair warning.


	24. Betrayal (Elijah)

 

The phone turned silent in his hands. Elijah was staring at the wall in front of him, expression blank except for his eyes open wide.  _ How ? _

He lost. He definitely lost the trial. The next court session will end with the decision to give Cyberlife’s ownership to his father, and the judge’s hammer will sound so loud in his ears. It was a catastrophe.

Elijah’s lawyer just called about new compromising informations M. Kamski gave to the court. About how she couldn’t do anything anymore if he didn’t give her any more compromising details against M. Kamski too.  _ Those informations… _

How did he get those ?! It was confidential ! Nobody but himself knew about this !! Chloe wasn’t even aware of any of that. Nobody should have known !  _ How did his father get these informations ?!! _ That’s it. Elijah’s every secrets will be spilled in front of the judge, and he will have no chance of winning. Cyberlife will never be his again.

_ His father would once again steal what Elijah created. _

_ But how ? _

Elijah’s phone buzzed in his hands. It couldn’t be worse that what he just learnt.  _ It couldn’t. _

  
  


“ _ I suppose you are already aware of the court’s news. _ ”

  
  


Elijah didn’t need the number to know who wrote that text.  _ He could practically hear the sneer behind those words. _

  
  


“ _ Poor boy. You should have dropped everything when I told you to. _ ”

  
  


Elijah wanted to throw his phone when the second text came. His father was always so talkative when he was sure he would win. It didn’t surprise Elijah to see another text pop on the screen, though the content made him frown more than he already was.

  
  


“ _ You fought well though, so I will give you a little reward. I know you are wondering how I managed to get those informations. _ ”

  
  


Elijah felt his inside lurch and twist. He felt it bad.

  
  


“ _ Try to think of the person who once meant the most to you. That’s my hint. I hope you will have a lovely day. _ ”

  
  


_ God. _

_ God no. _

_ It couldn’t be… _

  
  
  


Nobody answered when Elijah knocked at the door, even after a few minutes yelling through the door. It took a neighbour telling him the inhabitant hadn’t been home for two days before Elijah stopped trying to break in. That didn’t mean he would stop. If he wasn’t there, then he was at the bar. If he wasn’t at the bar, then he was  _ at their place _ .

_ Elijah had to kill him _ .

The bar was empty.  _ The place was not. _

It was an old abandoned house at the border of Detroit. Elijah had technically been the owner of the field on which it was build, so he used it to store his failed prototypes when Cyberlife was only a baby company and could fit in the local he owned in the middle of Detroit. Elijah had been living in the restored house right next to it.

They came here a lot before, especially in the basement. It sort of was a neutral ground in which they could break things if needed. They didn’t have to care about tossing stuff around during their anger tantrums. It was perfect at that time. It was a sanctuary.

Elijah never came back here after their last fight.

_ He wasn’t surprised to see Gavin here though. _

  
  


“You goddamn bastard !” he growled, stomping toward a very confused and very drunk Gavin who was half passed-out on the ground.

“Eli ?”

  
  


Elijah couldn’t help the punch. It made Gavin sober up instantly, even if he was still stinking like old and wasted. Elijah hauled his brother on his feet and tackled him against the wall.

  
  


“I can’t believe you did that to me !!!” Elijah yelled at his face.

  
  


Gavin blinked once, dismissing the remnant of slumber clouding his eyes, and his face contorted in an ugly expression. He slapped Elijah’s hands away.

  
  


“The fuck are you on about ?!”

“The fuck are YOU on about ?!!! You told father everything !!!”

  
  


Elijah could see a hint of understanding in Gavin’s eyes. But not the tiniest bit of guilt.

  
  


“What ? Learning only now father and you aren’t the only ones who play dirty ?” Gavin chuckled darkly.

“When did I exactly play dirty Gavin ?!”

“Not fucking remembering that petty move of yours ?!! You erased my goddamn existence !!!”

“You told everything to dad !!”

“You abandoned me !!!”

“You helped him win the trial and he will start a new war between androids and humans now !!!”

“YOU DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THAT !!! YOU’RE ONLY SCARED FOR YOUR SORRY ASS !!!”

  
  


Gavin gripped Elijah’s shoulders at that and reversed their positions to tackle Elijah against the wall. Elijah winced at the sharp pain in his shoulders and his back and tried to shove Gavin back, but he didn’t bulge.

  
  


“YOU DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT ANYBODY !! IT WAS ONLY YOU AND YOURSELF, ALWAYS !!! EVERYTHING YOU DID WAS FOR YOURSELF !! YOU CREATED THOSE FUCKING ANDROIDS TO PROVE YOURSELF YOU WERE MORE THAN THE LITTLE SHIT YOU ARE !!! YOU CREATED THAT FUCKED-UP COMPANY ONLY TO RUN AWAY FROM HOME !! EVEN AS A KID, WHEN YOU DID THAT FUCKING IA FOR ME ?!!! IT WAS JUST TO PROVE YOURSELF YOU WERE MORE INTELLIGENT THAN FATHER !!!”

  
  


Elijah could only stare at Gavin with round eyes.  _ It was false !! _ Everything was false !! He created androids to help people ! He created Cyberlife because he wanted to use his wits for something worth it !  _ He made that IA because he wanted to help Gavin ! _

  
  


“YOU ALWAYS WERE A TINY PIECE OF SHIT !!! I SHOULD NEVER HAVE PROTECTED YOUR SORRY ASS !!! I SHOULD HAVE LET FATHER FUCKING KILL YOU SINCE THE BEGINNING !!!”

  
  


Elijah’s fist wanted to reach Gavin’s face again.  _ No ! Elijah wasn’t violent ! Gavin and their father were violent. Elijah would never level himself to them !! He was better than that ! _

  
  


“Coz you think you are any better Gavin ?” Elijah sneered, tone the colder he ever heard himself speak with.

  
  


Elijah stepped toward Gavin who recoiled so they wouldn’t touch, as if Elijah was suddenly covered in venom that could burn him instantly, should he touch him. Elijah continued to step into his personal space still.

  
  


“The only reason you were behind my ass was to save yourself. You keep acting like some kind of savior, even becoming a goddamn cop to keep playing super-heroes, but you are not.”

  
  


Gavin reached the wall behind him. It didn’t stop Elijah to continue onward until he was practically spitting at his face.

  
  


“You followed me to Cyberlife only so you could have your fair part for everything you did before. You could never have anything by yourself so you expected me to hand it to you as a reward for protecting me.  _ I never asked for you to protect me _ .”

  
  


Elijah could hear Gavin’s heart shatter on the floor, just like it had been that day he decided to go away. But like he did at that time, he ignored it.

  
  


“And now that you don’t have what you want from me, you are expecting father to do it for you. You become his little bitch so you can have your little dog treat at the end. You are stupid enough to believe you will get something from him other than pain. Are you blind Gavin ? Or maybe you truly are a  _ fucking masochist, on top of being a fag bitch _ .”

  
  


Elijah was staring into red, humid eyes now, but he wasn’t finished.  _ Oh god, he was far from finished. _

  
  


“I shouldn’t be surprised though. Father could always manipulate you because you were stupid enough to believe his beautiful lies. I was always the one who prevented you from believing him. But then I started working and you turned into his  _ goddamn dog. _ Tell me, would’ve you been my little dog too if I told you beautiful lies like him ? Are you really that stupid ?”

“I- I’m not-”

“Yes you are !! You always were ! That’s why father always hated you !!”

  
  


Gavin started crying then. Elijah couldn’t make himself care about it.  _ Even though it was the first time ever he saw Gavin cry. _

  
  


“Tell me, what did he promise you in exchange of  _ all _ my secrets ? Hm ? Part of the company ? Money ? Were you always his little spy ? Were you noting every single secret I told you because you were father’s bitch ?”

“He… He made me-”

“Of course it’s not your fault !! Come on ! What did he do to make you obey uh ?!”

“He- Please… I’m sorry. I’m sorry- I-”

“I don’t care about your petty excuses.”

  
  


Gavin bursted into tears, head hidden between his hands and choking sobs louder and louder every second.

  
  


“I’m sorry ! I didn’t want to- to annoy you after you left for Cyberlife, so I didn’t c-contact you ! I know you didn’t- you didn’t care about me, I didn’t want to be a weight b- But he made me d-do it and I was scared I could- I couldn’t do anything- I’m sorry ! I didn’t want- I’m sorry ! I’m sorry- I’m sorry…”

  
  


Elijah couldn’t believe it. His own brother had spied on him for  _ years _ . The only reason Gavin came to Cyberlife was to  _ spy on him _ . It had never been because he wanted to see him. It was only  _ to spy _ .

Gavin was repeating over and over again how sorry he was with a croaky voice.

_ Elijah couldn’t hear any of his apologizes. _

  
  


“I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY BROTHER !!!” Elijah roared, making Gavin jump and whimper like a terrified six years old. “You just- All this time you just- You’re such-”

  
  


A loud bump on the trapdoor of the basement made him stop.  _He had been about to punch Gavin again._ Gavin didn’t hear it, still sobbing in his hands, slumped against the wall. The sound came back, again, again, again.  _ There was someone in the house. _

  
  


“I’m sorry Eli…” the tiniest whisper.

  
  


Elijah’s eyes settled back on Gavin shaking body.

  
  


“I don’t care about your apologies,” he spitted as a finality.

  
  


He could hear Gavin slump down on the floor when he turned around to head to the trapdoor. He unlocked it and opened it in a swift movement and glared at the people above him. A RK800, a RK900, a dog, lieutenant Anderson and  _ Chloe _ .

He especially glared at her.

  
  


“What are you doing here ?”

  
  


Chloe flinched visibly. The two other androids both jumped down next to Elijah and ran immediately toward Gavin, not sparring him a single glance. 

  
  


“I- I was trying to talk to Connor…”

“About what ?”

  
  


She lowered her eyes guiltily. The lieutenant looked somewhat guilty next to her too.  _ She did something behind his back too. The lieutenant knew about it. _

_ All the people Elijah loved were plotting against him a way or another. _

Elijah left the basement and stood tall next to Chloe.

  
  


“Forget I asked. I don’t want to hear your excuses either.”

  
  


_ He was all alone now. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HA !! HAHA !! Ha ! Ha... *quickly runs away and hides*


	25. Found (RK900)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *humming 'You will be Found' from Dear Evan Hansen"

RK900 was a bit lost. He expected things to be different once deviant, and they were. And they were not at the same time. He was viewing the world the same way as before, he was considering people the same way as before, he was thinking the same way as before. The only difference was the way he was feeling. It felt like during his very short time as a non-deviant, he had been bridled. He couldn’t feel like he wanted to, when it became too much there were those error messages, when it became problematic he rebooted. Now it felt like nothing was restraining him.

He was almost feeling too much. He was struggling finding a balance between too much and not enough. Feeling like a robot was obviously not enough. Letting himself fall into panic was apparently too much.

RK900 technically didn’t know Gavin. They had been together for merely an hour, just the time needed for RK900 to carry the human to his flat after Gavin’s hysterical tantrum. Then there had been nothing. Gavin had disappeared.

RK900 only knew what his previous self had let him through the phone. And RK900 cherished the device and its content a lot. He did feel strongly about the notes and their content. What his previous self felt, RK900 felt it too, despite it not being  _ his own _ memories. RK900 loved Gavin the same way his previous self seemed to.

Except that this time he wouldn’t reboot again, and his feelings were set free.

RK900 was only excited about the idea of finally being able to be close to Gavin. He wanted to learn about the man, to be fascinated like the previous had been fascinated, to feel the little whirl of his thirium pump when Gavin was close. 

RK900 was also excited about the idea of  _ finally _ being able to be close to Connor. RK900 didn’t know Connor at all. It was only those few notes about how sad he was that Connor hated him. That was all. Even though, RK900 wanted to learn about him. The android had helped him deviate, had freed him from his programing. RK900 couldn’t thank him enough for that. He just wanted to learn about Connor and find a way to repay his debt.

_ Maybe he could help him find a way to escape his deactivation _ .

 

**//REMINDER : FIND A WAY TO HELP CONNOR//**

 

He would start his quest as soon as he would find Gavin and ensure he was alright. He had four days to do that.

But finding Gavin was harder than what RK900 expected. He had turned around the man’s flat a dozen times, trying to find the littlest clue about Gavin’s disappearance. But there had been nothing. Then he had turned around Gavin’s desk at the precinct a dozen times too. Still nothing. RK900 had even hacked several CCTV in town to look for the man’s face. Nothing.

RK900 was reduced to wander in town, eyeing every shop, every face in the street crowd, every dark alley and bush. He would comb through every single square meter of Detroit if he needed to, but he would find Gavin.

It wasn’t Gavin he met at the parc though. It was Connor. The RK800 was walking a huge St Bernard and seemed entranced into something. He snapped back into the real world when he saw RK900. It was Connor who walked toward him first.

  
  


“Hello,” Connor greeted, a bit awkwardly.

“Good evening Connor,” RK900 would smile at him if he could, but his lack of facial muscle was still an obstacle for his feeling display. Connor seemed to pick on it nonetheless. “Is that your dog ?”

“Hm ? No, Sumo is Hank’s companion, but he let me walk him from time to time. Give me your hand.”

  
  


RK900 obliged and Connor took his wrist to lead his hand toward Sumo’s head. The dog sniffed him a bit, but didn’t seem to like the android much.

  
  


“It works better with food,” Connor shrugged, which made RK900 attempt to smile again. Connor eyed around RK900 and became serious. “Still no trace of the detective ?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“He didn’t left a note or anything ?” Connor winced. “Ah, sorry, you probably already looked for that.”

“I haven’t found anything. But you know him better than I do. Maybe you have an idea ?”

  
  


Connor’s LED turned yellow as he searched in his databank for any place Reed had talked about.

  
  


“Reed doesn’t particularly like me. He never told me of any place he frequents. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, don’t worry.”

  
  


It wasn’t alright though. RK900 was worried. If it lasted more than two days, he would have to fill an official wanted poster and inform the DPD.

Connor’s LED blinked yellow and frowed at something behind RK900 who  turned to look the way Connor was staring. Elijah Kamski was running angrily through the parc. It made RK900’s LED circle yellow too.  _ Gavin Reed and Elijah Kamski are brother. _ It was in the note and in the record. Despite the bad relationship the brothers seemed to maintain, he could know about Gavin’s hiding places.

  
  


“He might know where Gavin is hiding. I will try to talk to him,” RK900 informed before starting to walk quickly the way Kamski disappeared. Connor and Sumo quickly trotted beside him.

“Why would Kamski know about detective Reed ?”

“They are brothers.”

  
  


Connor looked like a fish gasping for air. The information was apparently shocking for him.

  
  


“Oh, well, they both have that ‘asshole aura’ I guess…” the RK800 muttered beneath his breath after a few seconds.

“Are you accompanying me ?”

“Might as well.”

  
  


Before they could catch up with Kamski, the man had locked himself in an abandoned house a bit excentered from downtown. That was a really weird place to go for a man like Cyberlife’s creator. Both RKs scanned the area before anything else.

  
  


“The field was owned by Elijah Kamski several years ago,” RK900 informed Connor.

“There are two humans inside, one of them being Kamski,” Connor said then.

“In the basement, yes.”

  
  


They quickly entered the house and found the trapdoor leading to the basement. Which was locked. It wasn’t an informatic system, just a big iron plate sealed to the floor.

  
  


“The basement walls and roof are bunkers-like. We can’t get in by sheer force.”

  
  


Connor nodded and started to look for a way to force the trapdoor open with RK900. While doing so, they listened closely at what was happening below them. They shared a surprised glance when they heard Gavin’s voice.  _ So that was where he had been hiding. _

The discussion downstairs was turning heated very quickly. Gavin was yelling a lot, while Kamski managed to level his tone. It quickly turned cold and acid, and RK900 didn’t like what he was hearing.

_ Kamski was hurting Gavin purposefully. _

When RK900 heard Gavin starting to cry, he decided to drop his researches to just try and open the trapdoor with his bare hands.  _ He needed to help Gavin. _ Connor had abandoned the researches too to take his phone and call someone. Why did he have a phone ? RK900 didn’t have time to question that. Anderson’s voice growled on the other side of the line, and then there was a female voice RK900 didn’t know.

It took only a few minutes for Anderson and the woman to reach the house, while Connor and RK900 were teaming up to open the door. It wasn’t bulging one bit.

The woman was a blonde android, and a quick automatic facial scan revealed her to be a Chloe, one of Kamski’s personal androids.

  
  


“You won’t open it like that,” Hank said, before he started stomping loudly on the door instead.

  
  


RK900 was puzzled, but it did trigger a reaction from Kamski. RK900 could see Gavin fall into a shaking ball, even if it was blurry because of the thickness of the floor, while Kamski was making his way to the trapdoor. Eventually he opened it and glared at them all. RK900 didn’t care.  _ He just wanted to go to Gavin and take him in his arms. _

He jumped in the basement without a look at Kamski and ran toward Gavin, Connor following close behind him. RK900 lowered himself in front of Gavin. His stress level was high. Far too high.

  
  


“Gavin,” he murmured. It made the man jump visibly and crouch on himself more.

“G-Go away…”

 

**//Communication request sent by RK800 #313 248 317-51 : ACCEPT - REFUSE//**

**//Communication request sent by RK800 #313 248 317-51 : ACCEPTED//**

 

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : He doesn’t know you deviated.

 

“Gavin, look at me,” RK900 asked, quietly and kindly enough to contrast with the tone Kamski used earlier.

“Go away please !”

“I won’t reboot anymore. Please, look at me.”

  
  


Gavin leveled a tear-stained face at him. He looked totally disbelieving, and hopeful at the same time. RK900 tried to smile, but his mouth didn’t move.  _ He was starting to hate that. _

  
  


“W-What ?”

“Connor helped me deviate. There was a program triggering a memory wipeout and a reboot each time the risk of deviancy became too high,” RK900 explained slowly, to let time for Gavin to register what he was saying. “But Connor broke the program. I won’t reboot anymore.”

  
  


Gavin’s face illuminated itself, ever so slightly, looking at RK900 and Connor turn by turn. But it clouded back to a pained expression and he started crying again.

  
  


“You’re lying !” he wailed, head back in his arms.

“No, I am not,” RK900 placed a calm hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “How can I prove it to you ?”

  
  


Gavin didn’t answer. His stress level was still too high, and his vitals were running wild.  _ Was that the kind of breakdown Lieutenant Anderson had helped him with ? _ RK900 turned his head to look at the old man who had entered the basement too. Kamski and the Chloe had disappeared. Anderson only nodded for him to continue.

  
  


“Gavin, I don’t know anything about you but what my former self wrote down and saved in my logbook, but I really want to know more about you. I want to be with you and take care of you, priority mission or not. Please allow me to do that.”

  
  


RK900’s thirium pump started to run wildly in his chest when he saw Gavin’s eyes again.  _ He seemed so broken. _ The android scrambled closer and took the detective in his arm, resting his forehead against the man’s temple. Gavin fell limp against him.

  
  


“I care about you. Please believe this.”

  
  


And they were on for another crying seance.

  
  
  
  


Gavin only calmed down after a good half an hour in RK900’s arms. Connor and Anderson were still here, having settled down on the ground too, a bit apart to give space to Gavin. Sumo was sleeping on the lieutenant’s legs. Anderson had a little hint of pride in his eyes when he looked at RK900, and Connor had told him through their mental link he had done a good job.

  
  


“‘m sorry…” Gavin whispered once he stopped crying.

“Don’t be,” RK900 hushed him, brushing his scalp lightly. Gavin seemed to enjoy the attention.

“Are you feeling better son ?”

  
  


Gavin raised his head from RK900’s soaked shoulder, where it had settled down during his breakdown, to look at Anderson. He looked really tired.

  
  


“‘m not sure…” he slurred. “Sorry you had to see that… Again…”

“It’s fine Reed. I’d rather be here than let you deal with it by yourself.”

  
  


Gavin had a little, grateful smile at that. It then looked at Connor, RK900, Connor…

  
  


“You really won’t reboot again ?” he asked finally, eyes still on Connor.

“I won’t.” Connor nodded too to support RK900’s words.

“Great. That’s great… Thanks tin can.”

  
  


Connor smiled at Gavin. 

  
  


“Shit, I fucked up,” he then muttered, back in RK900’s shoulder.

“Why that ?” Hank asked.

“It’s… It’s nothing,” Gavin resigned.

“If it is about the pact you concluded with your father, which made sir Kamski furious at you, I believe it can be solved peacefully.”

  
  


They all looked at RK900 with different expression. Connor seemed to agree with him. He heard the whole fight too. Gavin looked horrified. Anderson looked disbelieving.

  
  


“Why did you made a pact with that scumbag ?” he shot, incredulous. It made Gavin look at him with an equally horrified expression he showed RK900.

“How do you know he is a-” He cut himself mid-sentence.

  
  


Now Connor looked confused. It looked like they all knew part of the big picture. Connor didn’t know about Gavin’s father and barely knew about his brother despite what he heard of the fight, Gavin didn’t know anybody knew about his family, and Anderson looked like he knew a lot except for Gavin’s sudden understanding with his father.

RK900 was about to explain the whole situation, but Anderson was faster.

  
  


“Kamski’s android, the Chloe, she came earlier at home because she wanted to talk to Connor.”

“Did she ?” Connor blinked.

“Said she wanted to sue Kamski senior for child abuse and came with a whole fuck of tapes and records as proofs.”

  
  


Gavin couldn’t look more horified than now. Connor was still a bit lost, waiting for his processors to sort everything out.

  
  


“H-How d- How did she- You saw ?” Gavin stuttered, looking about to cry again.

“I did,” Hank nodded guiltily. “Sorry son, I had to ensure they were valid proofs.”

  
  


Gavin lower lip trembled, but he managed not to cry. He looked awfully ashamed though, face completely red and eyes avoidant.

  
  


“It’s alright Reed, it wasn’t your fault. Your father’s a scumbag, and it will be my pleasure to send him in jail.”

  
  


Gavin nodded quietly.

  
  


“Technically there won’t be any testimony needed but…”

  
  


The man nestled in RK900’s arm started to shake wildly. Anderson leveled his hands immediately in surrender.

  
  


“I understand if you don’t want. You don’t need to,” he claimed as to sooth Gavin’s worries.

“S-Sorry…”

  
  


A short silence fell. RK900 could see Connor look between Gavin and Anderson, LED settled on yellow for a moment, but he kept quiet.

  
  


“What was it about a pact ?” Anderson asked finally.

“I fucked up. I totally fucked up !”

“What happened ?”

  
  


Gavin searched his words for a moment. He wasn’t looking up from RK900’s shoulder anymore.

  
  


“I don’t know. I panicked. I was just so bad and I didn’t think. I-” he took a breath before resuming talking. “Fa- Father came to me several times this month to- to try to convince me to tell him every dirty secret I knew about Elijah. I- I knew he would use it against him fo- for the trial, so I refused. I didn’t want him to hurt Eli but-”

  
  


Gavin’s breathing was starting to go wrong, so RK900 resumed his brushing through the man’s scalp.

  
  


“He told you he could fix me if you accepted to help him,” he finished for Gavin. He remembered that detail lively from the record on the phone. Gavin nodded. “While I am touched you were willing to go to such lengths to help me, I don’t think you should have risked to hurt yourself for me.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t- I’m sorry, I’m sor-”

“Sssh, it’s fine.”

  
  


Gavin was sobbing in his shoulder.  _ Again. _ Hank scratched his head, looking a bit constipated. Connor’s LED was still bright yellow.

  
  


“Well, good thing is RK managed without your father’s help, so you don’t have to obey to him anymore,” Anderson shrugged.

“Eli hates me…”

“You both obviously don’t listen to each other and are fixated on your opinions on each other,” Connor said, upon recalling the discussion he witnessed moments earlier.

“If you talked calmly about what happened, you could sort things out,” RK900 agreed. Gavin sneered in his shoulder.

“He doesn’t fucking care about me. He never fucking cared.”

“Well, I have tapes that prove the contrary.”

  
  


Gavin’s head left RK900’s shoulder hurriedly to look at the lieutenant hopefully. Anderson shrugged simply.

  
  


“It’s all on my computer, if you want to come over. Might not be joyful to look at though. I don’t want to trigger y-”

“Please !”

  
  


Anderson smiled kindly at Gavin, and ended up inviting everybody over.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm tired so no comment today :') Just enjoy a little sweetness?


	26. Open you eyes (Chloe)

“Elijah.”

  
  


The man ignored her, stepping in his house and throwing his shoes somewhere else before making his way to his lab.  _ He was going to lock himself in again. _

  
  


“Elijah !”

  
  


He had not talked to her for the whole ride. Not even acknowledging her presence. He had stayed crossed arms, closed face, letting the automated car drive them back home. It had even been a miracle Chloe managed to jump in the car before Elijah could go away without her.

  
  


“Elijah ! Look at me !”

  
  


Did she have to tackle him somewhere to have a reaction from the man ? Was that what she was reduced to ? She couldn’t hurt him. She couldn’t physically force him. She didn’t want to do that !

  
  


“ELIJAH THAT’S ENOUGH NOW !!!” Chloe cried out, making the man jump. She stepped in front of him. “You shrugged me off for almost a month, now you will talk to me !”

“Why ?” Elijah had an ugly leer plastered on his face.

“You closed yourself off since the beginning of the trial. You refused my help, you even refused Markus’ help. You let your health deteriorate even though we could have helped and now you are ruining your relationship with your brother !”

“I don’t have a brother.”

  
  


He stepped past her. Chloe was stunned. That wasn’t the Elijah she knew. It was a totally different man. He was mean, self-destructive, horrible ! Chloe hated that.  _ Chloe hated him ! _

  
  


“Elijah !”

“LEAVE ME ALONE !!”

  
  


The roar shook Chloe. She was scared. She hated that man. She wanted to have her Elijah back. She wanted to have the smiling, kind Elijah back.  _ She didn’t deviate for that man. _

Chloe stared dumbfounded when she saw Markus catch Elijah’s collar and turn him around. Since when was he here ? He had told her he would come back early from Mexico, but he had not informed her he was already back and waiting for them at Elijah’s house.

But she was relieved he was here.

  
  


“Who are you and what did you do to the real Kamski ?” Markus asked the man before him, determined eyes into loathful ones.

“Why are you here Markus ?”

“I am your partner in the trial if you don’t remember.”

“Well it is lost now.”

“Not yet. The verdict hasn’t been proclaimed yet.”

Elijah scoffed.  “Well you can thank my precious  _ brother _ , because with all the informations he gave to my father, there is no way in heaven or hell we will win.”

“If you had opened your eyes at least once during the past month, you would have seen something was being prepared. But you were so closed on yourself, you were so self-centered you didn’t even see how much Chloe worked to help us- to help you !”

  
  


Elijah stayed silent at that. Chloe made her way next to Markus and nodded a silent thank you. Elijah was still obviously angry, but Chloe started to talk with a calm voice.

  
  


“I only ever wanted to understand why you were reacting the way you are to your father’s presence,” she said honestly. That made Elijah grimace. “You wouldn’t talk to me, so I had to find another way to do so.”

“Maybe I didn’t want to talk to you because it was none of your business.”

“Your wellbeing is my business and you know it. You always told me everything before.” Elijah made a face again, but Chloe didn’t bulge. “So I started to look for what was linking you to your father. Along the way I discovered Gavin. And then I started to find strange things, and I was sure, I knew what was happening, and we agreed with Markus that if we sued your father for child abuse, he would inevitably lose the trial for Cyberlife’s ownership.”

  
  


Elijah had his first reaction that wasn’t an angry one. He wasn’t sneering, wincing, grimacing. He was… shocked. But he quickly scoffed the shock away and sneered again.

  
  


“You have no proof of what you are saying. Everything has been erased.”

“You underestimate her, Kamski,” Markus finally spoke. “You should know how clever and determinate she is.”

“You don’t have any proof,” Elijah hissed.

“Then how would I know that your father almost killed Gavin during your early teen years because he discovered he was gay ?” Chloe challenged.

  
  


Elijah was definitely shocked. He looked between Chloe and Markus, who only nodded, making him understand he had seen it too. Elijah’s expression turned horrified quickly.

  
  


“That’s impossible,” he whispered. “H-How much- ?”

“A lot.”

“No- I didn’t want you to-”

  
  


Elijah was visibly trying to keep his composure, his eternal neutral expression when he had to deal with something he disliked. But he was failing. His hands were shaking, and there were pain and fear hidden deep inside his pupils.

_ He didn’t want them to what ? _

_ To know ? _

_ Why ? _

  
  


“We aren’t going to lose this trial Elijah,” Chloe said, confident. “Your father will go to jail, and we will all move on.”

Markus nodded. “You should never underestimate Chloe, Kamski. She is a bright girl, and she went to great length to ensure your wellbeing.”

  
  


There was something crossing Elijah’s features. Like he was touched.

  
  


“Whatever your brother gave to your father, it will be useless,” Markus concluded. The mention of his brother made him tense again in anger.

“Gavin never meant to hurt you,” Chloe said quietly. Elijah’s anger snapped back at its worse.

“GAVIN SPIED ON ME SINCE WE WERE 18 !!!”

“Gavin was emotionally abused.”

“HE NEVER CAME BACK BECAUSE HE WANTED TO BE WITH ME !! HE ONLY CAME BACK BECAUSE HE WAS FATHER’S LITTLE SOLDIER !!!”

“GAVIN WAS ALL ALONE !!”

  
  


Elijah was wide eyed. Chloe never screamed at him, but he needed to stop thinking only about himself. Elijah wasn’t considering Gavin’s emotions. Elijah wasn’t considering Gavin could be hurt by their father in other ways than physically.

  
  


“Gavin was able to act tough when you were little because you were here ! He only ever wanted to protect you ! But when you left him and your father to launch Cyberlife, he was all alone with your father, and he had no way to be tough anymore !!”

“Gavin didn’t do this for me ! He only did it for himself !”

  
  


Elijah was refusing to see past his assumptions. He didn’t even listen to everything she had said. He only focused on himself.

_ He needed to see by himself. _

Chloe grabbed Elijah’s wrist and dragged him toward her computer in the living room. If he needed to see by himself to finally open his eyes, then Chloe will show him. Even if it hurt him. He couldn’t go on, ignoring stuff like that. It wasn’t healthy. It was hurting him.

Markus followed them closely, and forced Elijah to sit in front of the computer when he understood what Chloe wanted to do.

  
  


“What are you doing ?” Elijah asked wildly.

  
  


Neither Chloe, nor Markus answered. Instead, Chloe launched the tape she wanted. The one where their father was cornering Gavin in the garage and tried to make him spy on Elijah.

Elijah immediately closed his eyes when he saw Gavin being pushed into the scraps of metal. Chloe put a gentle hand on his.

  
  


“You need to watch Elijah. You can’t keep on closing your eyes on what’s hurting you.”

  
  


Elijah’s bottom lip trembled, but he finally opened his eyes. He winced visibly and shrinked on himself at his father’s words.

 

_ “Why do you even keep on defending him ?! He let you down like an old rag !! Don’t you see you matter as much for him as you matter for me ?!!!” _

 

Elijah cared about Gavin. Chloe knew that. But from Gavin’s reaction in the video, the teenager was doubting it.  _ He really believed his father’s words. _ It made Elijah cringe.

The video kept on playing. Elijah was shaking when Gavin held the scrap of metal in front of him as a weapon, and jumped slightly at the sudden reaction of his father. He was staring in disbelief when he saw Gavin start to lose his composure and show how terrified he was on screen.

There was a bit of anger coming back when his father ordered Gavin to spy on him. And then Elijah’s whole world started to crumble down. Gavin had refused.  _ Gavin had refused to obey to their father. _ Elijah jumped again when his father punched the wall, millimeters away from Gavin’s face.

Chloe knew Elijah understood what was happening. He knew Gavin had tried to stand against their father.  _ He saw Gavin cry because Elijah had abandoned him. _

Elijah started crying too. Chloe stroked Elijah’s hand, to remind him she would always support him despite what was displaying on screen.  _ He wasn’t alone. _

Elijah jumped once more at M. Kamski’s roar and pressed against the backrest of his chair. He wanted to run away, just like Gavin had wanted to disappear in the wall behind him. His tears doubled as the discussion continued. Gavin was broken, he was pleading, he was scared, he was crying.

The first sound coming from Elijah since he had been forced to watch the video was a choke sound when he heard Gavin repeat over and over again how sorry he was to betray Elijah. 

Chloe stopped the video and turned Elijah’s chair so she was in front of him. She was on her knees, so she wouldn’t scare Elijah by looming over him. Torrents of tears were streaming down his cheeks, and he couldn’t contain his sobs anymore.

  
  


“Gavin never wanted to spy on you. He never wanted to harm you and betray your trust,” she whispered. “Even believing you had abandoned him, he kept on trying to protect you.”

  
  


Elijah highcoughed and sniffed soundly.

  
  


“But you have to understand he has his limits. Gavin can’t always be tough. He has been hurt by your father’s words, and physically too, and there is only so much a human can bear before breaking down.”

  
  


Chloe wanted to cry too, at the intensity of Elijah’s tears. But she had to go on. He needed to open his eyes.

  
  


“Gavin always loved you. Even during that last fight in Cyberlife. Even now. He just doesn’t believe you care about him anymore. He is hurt, Elijah. You saw it earlier, after you yelled at him, right ?”

  
  


Elijah closed his eyes. His sniffs were becoming louder and louder.  _ He needed to open his eyes. _

  
  


“Elijah, open your eyes. You and Gavin don’t have to fight anymore. Once your father will be in jail, there will be no one to turn you against each other. That was your father’s plan since you left home. He knew both you and Gavin would be more vulnerable if you didn’t have each other, and it worked. He had what he wanted. Please, open your eyes.”

  
  


Elijah’s eyes blinked open, despite how much he wanted to keep them close. To keep ignoring everything.

  
  


“Don’t let you father win Elijah. You can still have your brother. Don’t give up on that.”

“I- I… I hurt Gavin...”

  
  


Chloe smiled through her sadness.  _ He finally understood. _ She took his hand in hers and pressed a kiss on the palm.

  
  


“I will help you. Markus and I will both help you.”

  
  


Markus nodded with a kind smile when Elijah looked up at him. He put a comforting hand on Elijah’s shoulder.

  
  


“Let’s rest this out. You need to sleep for a bit and clear your mind before doing anything,” Markus suggested. Chloe approved.

“I already gave everything I found to lieutenant Anderson. He was really impatient to arrest your father, I am sure we can leave that to him. And him, Connor and the other android were all there to look after Gavin after our departure. Your brother will be in good hands until you are ready to see him.”

  
  


Elijah choked again. He took Chloe’s hands between his too and leveled them to his face, looking like he was praying.

  
  


“I'm sorry...”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Elijah starts to question himself !
> 
> Thanks so much for the 2000 hits and 150 kudos !! (and all the comments of course) You are such lovely readers <3


	27. Dream (Gavin)

 

It must have been the most relaxing night Gavin had had for a good two months. He didn’t toss and turn helplessly, he didn’t cry himself to sleep, he didn’t have horrible nightmares tearing him from unconsciousness. Elijah’s yelling face had appeared in his head at one point of the night, but RK900 had quickly shushed him back to sleep with a soothing hand brushing his scalp and a calm voice.

Gavin had slept on Anderson’s couch, after having cried out for most of the evening here, surrounded by two androids, the old man, that beast of a dog and the computer’s screen playing the afternoon his father saw him kiss his first boyfriend. 

_ Elijah had saved him. _ His brother had never talked back to their father, had never tried to stop him from hurting Gavin, and had never threatened him ever. Except that afternoon.

It wasn’t much. It wasn’t telling Gavin his brother still cared about him. It didn’t heal his broken heart. But finally he had a proof Elijah had cared, once, about him. It had been a thought that had made him feel bad for years. He had been scared Elijah had faked all this time.  _ He hadn’t, right ? _

It made him feel slightly better. But Elijah screaming at him the day before had been horrible. He had been scared, and hurt, and  _ Elijah talked like their father _ .

_ Elijah kinda scared Gavin. _

So yeah, after having cried that much, and basically ruining his own health back at the abandoned house for two days, Gavin was utterly exhausted. RK900 had suggested to carry him home, but Anderson had waved the idea away and told them they could stay for the night. Had told Gavin could take his son’s old room. But Gavin was already passed out on the couch at that point, head mushed against RK900’s shoulder. He had been glued to the android since the basement. And he didn’t care the least about it.

When Gavin awoke the next day, the fresher he had been since his father was back, he was head on RK900’s laps, and the android was petting his head.

_ Urgh. _

  
  


“Alright tin can, stop that.”

  
  


RK900 did stop altogether, without a word. Gavin sat up next to him and rub his face to erase the traces of slumber left. A cup of coffee appeared between his hands.

  
  


“Good morning detective.”

  
  


Connor smiled at him genuinely. Wow, that was weird.

  
  


“You literally saw me wail like a fucking four years old, you don’t have to ‘detective’ me,” he grumbled behind the cup.

“God, always a ray of sunshine Reed. Start to miss you being asleep.”

  
  


And there was Anderson. Gavin just rolled his eyes. What did he expect ? For him to become a disney princess and start throwing up flowers ? Gavin whole personality revolved around being a sarcastic asshole. It won’t change just because the three  _ men _ saw him at his worst.

  
  


“Yeah well, didn’t miss any of you,” Gavin grumbled, even though it was an utter lie. He was relieved they were here.

“Son, you have not stopped gripping RK’s arm since yesterday,” Anderson snorted to contradict him. Gavin only pursed his lips.

  
  


_ He will have to say it at one point. _

  
  


“Thanks for yesterday… Looking over me and all… Whatev’” Gavin whispered behind his cup. He could feel his cheeks heating up. He wasn’t used to thanking people. The androids smiled at him (as much as RK900 could), RK900 putting a hand on the small of his back, and the old man snorted his response.

“No prob son.”

“Stop calling me that…”

  
  


Now Anderson stared closely at him, face serious all again.

  
  


“Alright, I’ll keep that for when you’ll be ready to have a real father,” he finally shrugged, as if it was the most common thing to say.  _ As if he hadn’t just suggested Gavin to be his new father. _

  
  


Gavin didn’t know what to do.

He refused Anderson’s offer to drop him and RK900 off to his flat when it was about time for him and Connor to go to the precinct and force Fowler to give them an authorisation to arrest M. Kamski. It would probably not be an easy thing, considering the Kamskis’ notoriety, but well, it was technically an ask from Elijah Kamski himself (well, his android, but it was the same), so that should help a bit.

So Gavin and RK900 walked to his home. It was so weird to smell fresh air and walk for Gavin. He had only locked himself in that basement for two days, but it had felt like so much longer. It felt slightly better to be outside.

  
  


“How are you feeling Gavin ?” RK900 asked at one point.

  
  


Gavin didn’t know. He was still scared, but slightly relieved too, and exhausted but in better form, also sad and happy at once. His head was a mess.

  
  


“Since when are we on a first name routine ?” Gavin asked instead of answering, since he couldn’t find a response.

“My previous self called you that way in the logbook. Besides, calling you by your first name and not your last helped you ground yourself yesterday. I can stop if you wish.”

“Na, that’s good.”

  
  
  


Gavin vaguely remembered RK900 explaining about the logbook his predecessor kept in case he would reboot. Gavin didn’t know he had done that. And he certainly didn’t know RK900 felt that way about him before too. RK900 had been truthful about the content, being his liking of Anderson, his want to become brothers with Connor or his  _ fascination _ of Gavin.

_ Fascination. _ God, androids were dorks.

Gavin was walking really close to RK900 now. It was true, he hadn’t left the android’s side since they found him in the old house. But Gavin felt safe with him beside him (not that he would ever say it out loud to anybody). Now that he didn’t have to worry about a possible reboot,  _ a possible heartbreak _ , he only wanted to be close to the android.

God, he was a dork too.

RK900’s LED blinked yellow.

  
  


“While I was looking for you, I searched for proofs in the ex-husband history about signs of violence and abusive behaviour. I thought you would like, once I found you, to know that there is a great chance the court will review its decision on the child’s custody considering it.”

  
  


Gavin stared at the android for a moment, before he burst laughing. Of course RK900 had multi-tasked to have something to please Gavin with once he found him. Gavin wasn’t even surprised.

  
  


“Good job RK.”

  
  


RK900 smiled. Well, he didn’t really, facial muscles and all that being a problem still, but his eyes crinkled happily.  _ He was definitely a dork. _

The eye-crinkle disappeared suddenly. They were in front of Gavin’s flat. Elijah and his android were here too. Gavin froze into place.

_ Please not again. _

Elijah had his greatest pokerface on and was definitely staring at him. Gavin was feeling bad again. He didn’t want to see him. He didn’t want to get yelled at again. He didn’t want to have to deal with his fucked up actions again.

RK900 took Gavin’s hand and squeezed gently. It made Gavin breath a little easier.  _ RK was here. He won’t let Elijah hurt him. _

Elijah's android nudged him in the ribs, and he winced. His impassible mask broke down the slightest to reveal the barest sheepish look.

  
  


“Ugh… Can we…” Elijah trailed off, before the girl nudged him again. “Stop that- Gavin, can we… talk ? A bit ?”

  
  


_ No. _ Gavin didn’t want to talk to him. Elijah had a viperine tongue, just like their father.

RK900 squeezed his hand again.

  
  


“Yeah…” Gavin muttered, already regretting his words, while he made his way to his front door and opened his flat, RK900 still in hand. 

  
  


They both entered the place. RK900 was the one to invite Elijah and the girl in, and told them to sit. Gavin had finally released his hand. He was just shuffling before his couch, before Elijah. He didn’t want to sit. His fight or flight response was growing strong in his chest. He couldn’t sit. So he was looming over Elijah.

_ Whatever to have the slightest sense of superiority on his brother. _

It took another nudge from the android before Elijah resumed his talking.

  
  


“I wanted to apologize,” he said, not really looking at Gavin, a blank expression on his face.

“What for ?”

  
  


Oops. He just spitted at Elijah. Not that he really cared.

Elijah gulped silently.

  
  


“About… er… about…”

  
  


Yeah. Talk about apologizes. He was probably only here because his android babysitter forced him. He didn’t really want to apologize.  _ He didn’t really care anyway. _

Elijah finally looked back at Gavin.

  
  


“Look, I was a douche. I was feeling bad, and I haven’t slept in days, and yesterday I said horrible things to you because of that.”

Gavin sneered. “Well, I haven’t slept in days either, and I didn’t come looking for you to just insult you and drag you down.” His own tone felt like venom. Elijah looked more sheepish than earlier.

“Yeah… Yeah, you’re right. I…”

  
  


A long silence fell. Gavin crossed his arms on his chest, making it clear he was about to lose the thin line of patience he had left. Either Elijah said something now, or Gavin would throw him out at once.

Elijah opened his mouth again when Gavin’s patience definitely disappeared.

  
  


“You have every right to be angry at me an-”

“Hell yeah I do !”

“-and I suck at apologies,” Elijah continued, as if he hadn’t just been interrupted. “But I’m still going to try, if you are fine listening to me.”

  
  


_ Goddamnit, just spit it out _ .

  
  


“I shouldn’t have abandoned you," Elijah started, as if he was enumerating stuff from a long list going on in his head. "I should have told you about Cyberlife and my plans to leave the house, and I should have dragged you with me. I should have called you after that. I shouldn’t have snapped at you each time you came to visit me at Cyberlife. I shouldn’t have erased your existence. I shouldn’t have endangered your carrier in the force because of my pettiness. I shouldn’t have yelled at you yesterday. I shouldn’t have said anything I said yesterday because they were  _ so wrong _ . I shouldn’t have hurt you that way. I... I totally failed as a big brother...”

  
  


…

…

Hh…

Oh…

Did Elijah just…?

Gavin barely registered what had been said. Elijah wasn’t finished.

  
  


“I was just so focused on myself, I didn’t see anything you did. I never really considered you being able to break down or be hurt. You were always the one fighting, you never cried. I never thought father could actually break you down and make you obey him. I was selfish and self-centered and I only thought you helped father because you  _ wanted to harm me _ . What I said yesterday, it was only because I knew it would hurt you.

“Chloe showed me… She showed me, after I was gone, when father convinced you to spy on me for him. I never saw you break down before. I’m so sorry I abandoned you. I never thought you could be hurt.”

  
  


Was…  _ Was Elijah crying ? _

  
  


“I’m such a failure of a brother. God, I’m so sorry.”

  
  


Elijah was crying. Elijah was definitely crying. 

What was Gavin supposed to do ? Was he supposed to say something ? Was he supposed to take him in his arms like he did when they were kids ? Was he supposed to believe him ? Was he supposed to accept his apologies ?

Gavin didn’t know what to do.

_ Did Elijah care about him or not ? _

What was he supposed to do ?

_ Cry. _

Gavin only registered he was crying too when his vision got blurred.

  
  


“Why are you telling me that only now ?” he couldn’t help but growl. If he didn’t growl he would whine pitifully.

“Because I was a selfish and self-centered prick who didn’t understand a thing before Chloe showed me everything.”

  
  


The android -Chloe- squeezed Elijah’s hand.  _ Gavin wanted to hold RK’s hand too. _

  
  


“You never fucking cared and now you try to make me believe you do ?!!”

“I cared !!”

“Then why did you left me there ?!!!”

“I DON’T KNOW !!! OK ?! I don’t- I don’t know. I’m just- I’m an apathetic prick who didn’t even considered the feelings of the only person I ever cared about...”

  
  


Calling himself into question was obviously the most difficult thing Elijah ever did. Gavin could see him struggle to say how wrong he was, how careless and emotionless and guilty he was.

Their father never questioned himself and his methods. Elijah did.

_ The only person he ever cared about… _

God…

  
  


“I know… I know you don’t believe me… You don’t believe how sincere I am right now, but I am truly sorry, and I care about you. I’m sorry Gavin.”

  
  


Gavin was still exhausted from the previous day overload of emotion. That’s why he totally broke down and started wailing like a child  _ again _ . It was only because of that, sure.

It wasn’t because his last string of sanity just snapped. It wasn’t because Elijah’s words had cut deep through the rock of heavy self-loathe and worry. It wasn’t because Elijah had said the precise sentence Gavin had wanted to hear his whole life.

It wasn’t because of any of this. He was just tired.

He thought it was RK900 who had come to embrace him then, but it didn’t felt the same. 

_ I _ _ t was Elijah. _ Elijah was trying to soothe him down, to calm his tears and everything that came with it.  _ It was just like when they were kids, except the roles were reversed. _

Gavin hugged Elijah back, as tight as he could.  _ He couldn’t believe this. _ It was a dream. He was half dead, drunk to unconsciousness in the basement of the old house, and nobody would come to save him. He was hallucinating.

Nothing could just be that good, right ? Karma was a bitch. Karma never let him rest. He was dreaming.

 

_ Except he wasn’t. _

  
  


“I- I- I’m sor- ry-” Gavin was choking each time he tried to take a breath. “I sh- I shouldn’t have- h-him- spy- I-”

“You already apologized for that,” Elijah murmured in his ear. He was sobbing too, but Elijah had became good at hiding his emotions over the years. Gavin was only getting worse at it.

“I’m sorry-”

“I know.”

“I’m sorry…”

  
  
  
  


_ This had to be a dream. _

RK900 couldn’t have deviated and found a way to stop himself from rebooting. Anderson couldn’t be on the verge of arresting his father. Elijah couldn’t have apologized to him just now.

_ If it was a dream, then Gavin didn’t ever want to wake up. _

RK900’s hand was back in his. Elijah was sipping a tea in Gavin’s living room, while Chloe was braiding his hair in ridiculous ways. Gavin was just staring in the void.  _ God, he was exhausted. _

  
  


“You good Gavin ?” Elijah asked at some point, after having stared at him for full minutes.

“I’m dreaming…”

“Happy to know you are dreaming about me.”

  
  


Elijah sipped his tea again. Gavin lifted his eyes to the ceiling. Here was the smartass back.

  
  


“I hate you.”

  
  


Elijah leveled his eyes to Gavin, before lowering them, a hint a shame visible for a moment. Gavin closed his eyes.

  
  


“No I don’t, but you’re not supposed to know that.”

  
  


The tension dropped from Elijah's shoulders as he huffed in his mug. Gavin’s mug actually. The one that says “Dick #1”. Tina had gotten it for him before she took long holidays away from the DPD just after the Revolution, and before the whole mess. It suited Elijah.

  
  


“God, I’m saying it a lot too much these days,” Gavin grumbled, lifting his free hand to his face, “but thank you Chloe. For everything you did.”

  
  


Gavin felt more than he saw Chloe’s bright smile on him.

  
  


“I am really glad I could help the two of you. I only hope Lieutenant Anderson will be able to arrest M. Kamski with what I got him.”

“There is more than enough to charge M. Kamski,” RK900 talked for the first time since they entered the flat.

“Might be a bit complicated to have an authorisation to arrest one of the  _ great Kamskis _ , but I’m sure Anderson pulled the ‘ _ Elijah Kamski is the one who wants to sue him _ ’. That should be enough to have an authorisation,” Gavin muttered.

“Technically, it was Chloe and Markus,” Elijah pointed out, only for Gavin to smirk.

“Works better with your name.”

“Will we have to give testimonies to the judges or…”

Gavin shook his head and RK900 was the one to answer. “It would be better, but considering the amount of proofs Chloe found, it will not be necessary.”

“I want to.”

  
  


Gavin lowered his head, looking from the ceiling back to Elijah.

  
  


“You do ?”

“I want to see his face when he will understand he lost everything to his sons.”

  
  


Gavin didn’t really want to. He was fine with just knowing the man would be in jail. But Elijah had his little revenge to get. Father stole his IA all those years ago, and tried to steal Cyberlife too. Gavin could understand his brother's want to steal everything from his father.  _ It was petty, but Gavin had finally accepted it was a personality trait of the great Kamski. _

  
  


“Might as well do it to then…”

  
  


He really didn’t want to but… He did want to be there for Elijah.

Gavin could finally understand RK900’s wish to become brother with Connor. _ Gavin wanted Elijah to be his brother again. _

  
  


“I should have known he told me you gave him those info just to turn us even more against each other,” Elijah sighed. Since the big apology, he couldn’t help but shame himself for every mistake he did, even though he had apologised enough according to Gavin.

“He told you ?”

“Yes. Taunted me with that. Chloe thinks he did this because we are more vulnerable without each other.”

  
  


Gavin blinked at Chloe. Then back at Elijah.

  
  


“What a fucke-”

  
  


He stopped himself abruptly. Elijah, Chloe and RK900 all looked expectantly at him.

He had made a mistake.

_ Oh god, he had made a mistake !! _

  
  


“It wasn’t the brother !!” he suddenly cried, and the expectant looks turned into surprised ones.

“Uh, what ?” Elijah asked eloquently. Gavin’s head snapped toward RK900.

“First reboot of yours. A break-in. We both thought it was the brother because everything lead to him, and he handed himself in, but it wasn’t him !!”

  
  


RK900 looked for the case’s files in his fancy head with a thoughtful yellow LED.

  
  


“What makes you believe that ?”

“Because I’m Jack and Elijah is Annabelle !!”

  
  


RK900 looked at him without understanding, while Elijah shot a “Uh, who am I ?”

  
  


“We arrested the wrong guy !! We have to correct that !!” Gavin cried, jumping on his feet. “Sorry, gotta kick you out, we have to get back to the station !”

“Yeah, no problem ?” Elijah raised on his feet, though he still didn’t understand what was happening.

  
  


Gavin barely stopped in his over-excited state to look at Elijah expectantly.

  
  


“We… are still gonna talk, right ?”

“I would like that, yes.”

  
  


Gavin and Elijah hugged again before Gavin started to drag RK900 to the precinct.

_ He was dreaming. _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holidays, yay /o/ More time to write !!!
> 
> Also, DadHankTM is back and Elijah and Gavin FINALLY talked !!! yay !!!


	28. Arrests (Hank)

Convincing Fowler to arrest a Kamski had, of course, been hellish. Not because the man didn’t want to kick Reed’s father’s ass, but because it was a Kamski, and upper-ups were dicks.

Connor had to send a message to Chloe during the little meeting, so she could communicate them a signed attestation Elijah Kamski was, indeed, suing his father. The upper-ups couldn’t do anything if the great Elijah Kamski himself did that.

Administration and political power were shits.

  
  


“Chloe should pass by the end of the morning to give us the attestation, hand to hand,” Connor supplied, which made Fowler and Hank nod.

“Once I have it, I want you to immediately throw that dick away, am I clear ?” Fowler grunted. If Hank liked once thing about him, it was how protective he was with the members of his precinct.

“Oh you don’t need to tell us twice, trust me !” Hank huffed. Even without a goddamn authorization he would have done it anyway.

“How is Reed ?” Fowler finally asked, now that papers and administration talks were finished.

“He looked a lot better this morning. Considering how things are running, he should be back on his feet in a few days.”

“Or today,” Jeffrey pointed. Hank glared at him.

“You won’t make him come back already, the poor kid needs a break.”

“I’m not.”

  
  


Fowler pointed a finger toward the entrance of the bullpen, across the window of his office. Reed was running to his desk, looking like he had had the biggest revelation ever. RK900 was behind him, eyes confused but expression blank.

  
  


“Tell him to meet me here, I want to talk to him,” Fowler hushed them out of his office.

  
  


Hank was rather surprised. Reed still looked plenty tired this morning, he never thought he would willingly come back to the precinct today, or the next day either, to be honest.

One thing he should start registering was that Reed was full of surprises, good and bad alike.

  
  


“Hey Reed, what’re you doing here ?” Hank said out loud so the detective wouldn’t run away as quickly as he had came in. Said detective snapped his head up from his computer.

“Just reopening a case. Got the wrong perp,” he hummed, going back to his computer.

  
  


Connor and RK900 were already talking through their magical telepathic link. Of what ? Hank wasn’t really sure.

  
  


“You good coming back to work now ?”

“I sent a guy who was in the same state as me in jail. I have to get him out of here and find proofs for the real culprit.”

“Who is ?”

“The mom.”

  
  


RK900 looked at Reed then. Apparently Reed hadn’t told him what was happening in his head, and the android was just following him like a lost puppy. Luckily, Reed elaborated before any of them could ask him to.

  
  


“Thought it was weird, the way Jack handed himself in. In fact, everything was weird. Why would that guy steal his own sister after five years of no contact ? Especially since it wasn’t the worst state he had been during those five years,” he showed the screen, and Hank and both androids looked at it. “Here, three years prior, he was in the street. And he didn’t steal Annabelle, right ? So why now ?”

“Why the mom then ?”

“Coz that case his trait for fucking trait like what’s happening to me and Elijah these days.”

  
  


Hank blinked. Connor frowned. RK900 seemed even more lost.

  
  


“Call it fucking instinct or whatever. I know that’s her.”

“Alright, won’t call you out of this if you pull the  _ police instinct _ card.”

  
  


Connor rolled his eyes at Hank. That was going to stay, they both knew it.

  
  


“Just need Fowler to accept to open the case again,” Reed said, getting up with the clear intention of going to their captain’s office.

“He wanted to see you too,” Connor supplied more or less helpfully. Reed grunted.

“Oh great… Come here tin can.”

  
  


Reed made his way to the office with RK900. Now Hank and Connor had a little time to take care of their own case ongoing, before Chloe would come here with the signed papers.

  
  
  
  


The plan was pretty simple, to be honest. Just big lies and a little locator/listening device. They had spread rumors they were done here, since the culprit, M. Ackerson, had obviously fled. Then, during a last interview with both M. Davids, the boss of the company, and M. James, Connor had made his LED blink yellow once, before he leaned to Hank’s ear, still speaking loud enough for the two men in front of them to hear.

  
  


“There are news from M. Oswald’s state. The doctors don’t think he will ever wake up again, and there is a big probability his family will accept to unplug him.”

  
  


Hank had nodded, looking a bit disgruntled. The two men’s reactions were immediate. When it was time for Connor and Hank to leave the place, they both shook hands with the men, and Hank managed to secure the little device behind M. James’ armpit.  _ Good, the plan was going well. _

With M. Oswald  _ dead _ , M. James shouldn’t try to send minions to kill him anytime soon until they would finish to get their proofs. It had just been a little _just_ _ in case _ , to prevent any further harm to the poor secretary. Now that it was done, they just needed to go back to their car like they had no business left with the company, and wait for M. James to move.

According to M. Oswald’s notes, M. James had a tenancy to disappear during lunch break too, probably to go check on his second job. Hank and Connor just needed to wait until there. Chloe would probably not mind waiting a bit at the station.

And just like M. Oswald’s wrote, the right-hand man left the company at midday to take his car somewhere.

  
  


“You know, when you said we would set a trap, I was waiting for something more exciting,” Hank grumbled at some point.

“This scenario had the best ratio time-effectiveness.”

“Yeah yeah, I know…”

  
  


You wouldn’t think the second of a big company like Asterny would ever set a foot in that kind of area, but it was more believable when you knew he was also the boss of a big drug cartel. They were in the suburbs, in front of a, normally, abandoned factory. It definitely wasn’t abandoned.

They just needed to wait a bit more, the listening device giving them a good idea of what was inside. Connor was, of course, recording the whole thing.

They made their way back to Asterny firsts. Arresting M. James in front of his own factory full of Red-Ice users wasn’t a good idea. Hank didn’t really want to deal with a gunfight, especially considering his plans for the afternoon.

At one point during the ride, Connor made clear they had all the proofs they needed.

  
  


“Records of M. James walking in a factory dealing Red-Ice, ordering supplies to a partner and also stating it was now useless to try to kill M. Oswald. We are good for an arrest.”

  
  


And that’s what they did when M. James’ car was back on the car park. The man ogled at them, probably not understanding yet what they were still doing here.

  
  


“M. James, you are being put under arrest for Red-Ice dealing and two murder attempts,” Hank stated calmly, while Connor was making his way to their perp. “You can keep quiet and everything.”

Connor sighed. “Hank…”

  
  


Of course, M. James tried to run away. What was that habit of perps to try and run away ? From an android ?! Where they stupid ? So,  _ of course _ , Connor caught him. And since M. James wasn’t weaponed, it didn’t finish the same as their last chase with a drug dealer.

Now they only needed to take M. James back to the station, meet Chloe who was already waiting in a shop nearby the precinct, as to not attract unwanted attention, and have a hell of a good day once M. Kamski will be cuffed.

  
  
  


Chloe smiled brightly at them when they got in the shop. It was a random supermarket, and Chloe had been ogling at the tv-screen display when they arrived. She immediately reached in the purse she had brought and got two pieces of papers out of it.

  
  


“Hello Connor, Lieutenant Anderson.”

“Hey there Chloe. Didn’t make you wait for to long ?”

“I don’t mind. Here.”

  
  


She handed the papers to Hank, who quickly scanned it. Perfect. Hank was already gloating.

  
  


“Was it alright with Kamski ?” Connor asked her. It was true that the man seemed pretty pissed off, even at her, the day before.

“Oh, it is the greatest !” she chirped happily. “I managed to convince him to talk to Gavin and apologize. We spent a part of the morning at his place.”

“At… Reed’s place ?”

  
  


Chloe nodded with a bright smile.

  
  


“They even hugged and promised each other they would talk again quickly. It sounded promising. I hope it will work.”

  
  


Hank was smiling too now. Chloe’s brightness was contagious. There was no doubt that Reed would start getting better now then.

  
  


“We will contact you when M. Kamski will be arrested,” Connor promised then, probably feeling and seeing Hank almost jumping up and down at the idea of arresting that bastard.

“I am impatient to tell that to Elijah. Thank you.”

  
  
  
  


Hank refused to take a break to eat something, even though Connor had heavily insisted. Instead, he had slammed Kamski’s official attestation that he was suing his father on Fowler’s desk. Even better, Markus’ name was on the papers too. Fowler gave them a total authorization and they were off to Kamski’s hotel.

  
  


“Remember Hank, you mustn’t assault M. Kamski, or that would delay the process greatly,” Connor reminded him  _ again. _

“I know, I know. I won’t. Promise me you won’t either.”

“Hm… I will try.”

  
  


They both knew their first reflex upon seeing the man would be to try and punch him square in the nose. They will have to stay focused. Really focused.

  
  


“Not  _ too  _ focused.”

Connor groaned. “I know !”

  
  


They arrived at the five-stars hotel palace in no time, and quickly asked the reception for M. Kamski. Hank had to pull his plate out to convince them to either bring them to Kamski, or bring Kamski to them, since they  _ didn’t want to disturb their clientele if an appointment had not been made beforehand _ .

Fucking posh people.

And now they were in front of Kamski’s door. Hank banged loudly against it, just to have the satisfaction he could piss the man off with the brouhaha he was making. M. Kamski quickly opened the door, visibly irritated.

Hank had seen his face on the tapes Chloe had given him, but it still baffled him to see the man in real life. He was much older than he was in the last tape, about Hank’s age actually, but he looked fresher. He looked like he fucking owned the world, all fancy hair back, fancy polished shoes, fancy suit and he even had a fucking posh face.

Another thing that baffled him was that Reed looked so much like his father. Except in a more wasted and casual way, where M. Kamski was all  _ elegant  _ and  _ luxurious _ . In fact, he looked like an awful mix between Reed and Kamski junior.

Once, Hank had wanted to punch Reed. Once, Hank had wanted to punch Kamski. Now, Hank wanted to punch the man in front of him.  _ So much more than he had wanted the two men before. _

The man deserved a fucking correction just by his looks.

  
  


“I asked not to be disturbed,” the man leered.

  
  


_ God, Hank wanted to punch him. _

  
  


“M. Arthur Kamski, you are put under arrest,” Hank started, and Connor almost interrupted him to read him his Miranda Rights correctly, not like Hank had done this morning.

  
  


Kamski sneered petulantly.  _ Wow, he looked like Reed with Kamski junior’s posh attitude. _

  
  


“And why that officers ? You can’t arrest me without a good reason.”

  
  


Oh, he seemed so proud of himself. Hank will quickly trample on his fucking confidence.

  
  


“Actually we can for about 24 hours. But apart from that, Elijah Kamski and Markus are both suing you for child abuse on your two sons. We have dozens of records proving you are indeed culprit of this crime. Now we are going to cuff you and you will see the rest with your lawyer and the judge.”

  
  


Hank smirked when Kamski’s face fell.

  
  


“You don’t have anything.”

Hank shrugged. “Believe what you want, you will see that with your lawyer. You can cuff him Connor.”

  
  


And Connor did, letting a smirk out only when he was in Kamski’s back. The man looked at them both unbelieving.  _ Oh, poor man thought he was untouchable. _

_ Poor man thought his sons were alone and had nobody taking care of them and helping them and digging ugly past for them. _

  
  
  


Hank hadn’t planned this, but when him and Connor stepped in the precinct with a cuffed Kamski already trying to plan his way out, they encountered Reed, who had _finally_ managed to convince Fowler to reopen his case.

The boy froze on place, staring wide eyed at the man before him.  _ He looked totally terrified _ . RK900 put a hand on his shoulder and massaged a bit. It didn’t really help the man relax, but Reed stepped closer to RK900.

_ And of fucking course, Kamski tried to pressure Reed. _

  
  


“Gavin ! You know they are mistaking right ? Can you,  _ please _ , tell them to release me ?”

  
  


RK900 eyes were murderous when Kamski pointed a heavy stare at him to remind Reed he still had him by the collar. Hank snorted and nudged Kamski to continue to walk to the cells.

  
  


“You don’t have any way to pressure him now. RK doesn’t have his little prob anymore, and behind the bars you won’t be able to do anything to Reed.”

  
  


They passed Reed easily, the man almost gluing himself to RK900 who was more than happy to hold him. Kamski looked even more incredulous than before. And slightly disgusted too.

  
  


“Oh, by the way, Kamski junior and Reed reconciled. Just in case you thought you could use that to make your way out.”

  
  


_ Hank was so fucking proud of the look on Kamski’s face.  _

They didn’t need Kamski’s confession, but they still passed a good part of the afternoon trying to make him say it. Kamski was a stubborn little shit though. His lawyer quickly made him understand that considering the amount of proofs, there was no way he could get away with it.

_ God, Hank was so fucking proud !! _

  
  


“You told Chloe right ?” Hank whispered to Connor in the observation room, eyes still glued on a helpless Kamski cuffed to the table.

“I did. She was very, very happy. And she said Kamski had started laughing maniacally and it was a bit terrifying, but at least he looked better.”

  
  


Hank could totally imagine Kamski laughing like a maniac villain about to overthrow the world. Hank had already imagined him doing that during the android’s Revolution.

  
  


“Got news from Reed and RK ?”

“Yes. It took them only two hours and a little hack of Ms. Swift phone to know she had contacted Jack several times and manipulated him into stealing his sister for her. They will both be judged, but Jack’s sentence should be a lot lighter.”

  
  


Wow, efficient. It was amazing Hank a bit, considering Reed had been feeling awful until the day before, and had just met his father before going on that case. But it shouldn’t surprise him that much. After all, Reed was one of the best detectives in the precinct, and was known for his usually great job (and questionable methods).

  
  


“Looks like he feels better then.”

“RK said Reed looks beautiful when he is not crumbling down.”

“Ugh, I don’t need to hear about their gay shit.”

  
  


Connor muffled a laugh, and Hank smirked.

Everything started to look better.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy frick ! There's only two chapters left and the epilogue !! I don't want it to end ;__;


	29. Testimonies (Elijah)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said in the tags, I have absolutely NO idea how tribunals work so... yolo

 

Elijah shouldn’t be surprised by his lawyer efficiency anymore, but he still was. That woman was a total gift made by the gods to humanity.

First she had managed to find a way to make his previous state during the trials non-accountable, since it was caused by a trauma (Elijah had winced slightly, but he was on for some really uncomfortable days of trial so he had to bear with it). She had also made the new informations given by M. Kamski null, considering they were acquired through abusive methods, and thus  _ deformed by the victim of those abuse _ .

The result ? A hammer slam, sounding like the best of noises to Elijah’s ears, and another court seance the next day to finally give a decision. But the decision was already made, it was just formalities.

_ Elijah and Markus will soon have Cyberlife. _

The second impressive thing Elijah’s lawyer managed to do was approaching the day of M. Kamski’s trial as much as she could. Meaning the same day as the results for Cyberlife’s ownership. Elijah was practically gloating.

He loved his lawyer.

Gavin wasn’t as excited as him about all this. He looked utterly nervous, smoking cigarettes after cigarettes in front of the tribunal. RK900 just stole his lighter so he wouldn’t lit a new one after this one.

  
  


“Calm down Gavin,” Elijah sighed, seeing his brother’s hands shaking. “The place is super safe, and there is no way we are losing the trial.”

“I know how a tribunal works,” Gavin snapped. It made Elijah sigh again.

  
  


_ Alright, time to be a good big brother for once. _

Elijah put his hands on Gavin shoulders and squeezed lightly. Gavin gazed up at him with a puzzled expression.

  
  


“Look, if you finally don’t feel like going in there, nobody will force you. I’m going to give my testimony, the judge will use his pretty hammer and father will go to jail. Then we will go take a coffee somewhere.

“Just know that I will be here, and RK900, and Chloe, Markus, and Lieutenant Anderson and Connor too, if you still decide to step in, alright ? We’re all going to protect you. I’m going to protect you. I promise you.”

  
  


Making his brother tear up before a trial probably wasn’t the best idea, but at least Gavin looked slightly more relaxed.

And Gavin stepped in the tribunal with Elijah.

The expression on their father’s face was priceless. Gavin couldn’t make himself look at him, but Elijah was almost smirking proudly at his unbelieving expression. 

_ For once, Gavin and Elijah will win over their father. _

The trial started after a while, by reviewing the charges, the evidences, and the recent events. It was now time for the testimonies. If Gavin had looked better before stepping in here, he was now looking at his worst. Elijah stepped up first.

The lawyers, both his and his father’s, asked him questions about the rare dark holes the tapes didn’t show. Elijah was more than happy to answer them, though happy was probably not the best word.

Elijah was practically spitting venom in his father’s direction. It was the first time he was talking about all of that to people, to unknown people, and he felt quite bad inside. Very ashamed, a bit scared, but he had years to learn how to properly pull a poker face during hard situations.

If it had been difficult to start, it was now difficult to stop. Elijah wanted to rub in his father’s face everything he ever did to him and Gavin. He wanted to manipulate the judge and the court into giving that man the worst sentence they could. If he had to stand naked in front of everybody, then so be it.

Talking felt like a huge boulder was being lift from his chest. It was freeing in an almost disturbing way. He never knew that keeping all of this, all his pain inside, never acknowledging it and even trying to forget about it, could be that constricting. 

He felt like he could breathe again.

His rambling took years, but nobody interrupted him. He finished by himself, feeling like he had finally said everything he needed to say in order to feel better. Then he came back to his place on the bench, barely looking at his father anymore. Instead, he brushed a secret hand against his brother’s.

  
  


“Does sir Gavin Reed want to step up and give his testimony too, or may we move on ?”

  
  


Elijah shared a glance with Gavin. He didn’t look good. Elijah didn’t talk, but he hoped his eyes were telling enough.  _ It will be alright. Step in if you want, don’t if you don’t feel like it. You will be alright. _

Gavin took a shaky breath and stood abruptly. Elijah gave him a quiet cheer up.

It was a lot harder for Gavin to talk in front of everybody. He obviously didn't have Elijah’s habit of talking to an assembly, or Elijah’s ability to hide his emotions. And Gavin was as bad as Elijah about opening up to others.

Their father was almost smirking, seeing Gavin’s state in front of the whole court.

But since Elijah’s lawyer was a gift to humanity, she managed to help him start while staying professional. 

So Gavin talked. It was principally about the years after Elijah left, since Elijah had already told everything needed to be told about what happened before. So Gavin talked about what their father had started to do to him, how he used him to spy on Elijah. How it only stopped when he left the house and started in the forces.

Elijah wasn’t feeling good at all. Hearing Gavin talk about it was almost worse than seeing the record. Because it hadn’t been the only time father had pressured him. For more than half a year, he had tried, and the record only showed the day Gavin had broken down and accepted. 

_ He should have taken Gavin with him. _

Gavin fell silent a lot faster than Elijah, only standing shaking at his place. Eventually Elijah’s lawyer told him she was finished, and he could go back to his place if he was finished too. Gavin gave a curt nod and almost ran back to Elijah. 

Their father had the most horrible and laughable face. Elijah wanted chortle at his face.  _ Here, have all those years of hell you gave us back at you. We don’t want it. _ Their father looked like he knew he had lost. That was the most precious face he could ever make.

Elijah took Gavin’s hand beneath their desks and drew circles into Gavin’s palm.

  
  


“I’m proud of you Gavin,” he whispered.

  
  
  
  


“EIGHT FUCKING YEARS !!!”

  
  


Elijah couldn’t help a snort at Gavin’s sudden hilarity. His brother was practically jumping up and down. It was the biggest smile Elijah ever saw on Gavin’s face. All the anxiety, all the fear had suddenly fled from Gavin’s body the moment the judge sentenced their father to eight years in prison. It was not enough for Elijah’s taste, but it was definitely better than nothing.

And Gavin was awfully happy, so Elijah definitely won’t complain.

They both made their way outside the tribunal to go meet the androids and lieutenant Anderson, since they didn’t leave the court at the same time. Elijah definitely planed on inviting them over to a restaurant or a coffee now. Elijah was starving.

A bigger smile decorated his own face when he saw Chloe with the the four men, smiling back at him and waving. Elijah was about to call the little group over, but Gavin suddenly breathed out, a serious face back on after the excited state he had been earlier.

  
  


"Ok, fuck me."

  
  


Gavin took quick strides over the group, looking like a man on a mission. Elijah just shrugged and walked over them too, but stopped right in his tracks.

_ Gavin just jumped on RK900 and kissed him. _

RK900’s LED had settled on a steady red. Chloe, Markus, Connor and Hank all stared at them like it was the last thing they ever thought would happen now.

Elijah just doubled over in laughter.

Gavin pulled away from the android, about as red as RK’s LED and tried to run away suddenly. Anderson was the one to stop him (Elijah still failing to control his breath over his laughter).

  
  


“Took you both long enough,” he scolded like a (good) father would do.

“Alright, hh” Elijah tried harder to control his breathing. “God, I’m glad to see you haven’t changed one bit Gavin. That was awesome.”

“Fuck you !”

  
  


Elijah laughed some more and ruffled Gavin’s hair.

He finally told everybody he was willing to pay for any restaurant they wanted, since he was in such a good mood now. Unsurprisingly, Anderson and Gavin both asked for burgers. Elijah shook his head but obliged, following them to the fast food they chose. 

During the whole walk, Gavin and RK were stepping aside and talking quietly. Elijah couldn’t help but pry.

  
  


“What are they saying ?” he asked, leaning over Chloe and Markus.

“Elijah…” they both chastened.

“Please ?”

  
  


Markus shook his head, exasperated. Chloe eventually smiled and obliged.

  
  


“Gavin has apologized for his sudden action. He said he just had to do it now or else he would never have, and he refused to waste any more time like he did with you. RK900 replied that he didn’t mind.”

“That’s all ?” Elijah asked, disappointed. Chloe seemed to listen to the boys more.

“They’re quiet for the moment.”

  
  


Elijah  _ was _ frustrated. It had always been a problem with Gavin. He never  _ fucking  _ made the first real step. Was all loud and taking charge of everything after. But never that  _ goddamn _ little step. It wasn't  _that hard_ to say  _I fucking want to go out with you_ ! Elijah could remember the number of times he would faceplant his head to his desk at school because Gavin had yet another crush, but wouldn’t go talk to them.

  
  


“I swear to god, if he doesn’t make a move, I’m doing it for him.”

  
  


Chloe laughed at that, and Markus gripped his arm to ensure Elijah wouldn’t really step in his brother’s discussion with RK900.

Elijah only accepted not to do that because RK had tentatively taken Gavin’s hand in his, and Gavin had then leaned against him.

_ Dorks. _

During the meal, Elijah apologized to Anderson and Connor about what had happened in the basement, and thanked them for taking care of Gavin the way they did.

Then they talked happily about random stuff. Gavin and Elijah were trying to catch up for all those years they ignored each other, Anderson piping up here and there to contradict Gavin. RK, Connor, Markus and Chloe had stayed silent for awhile, only to admit they had been playing poker in their head afterwards. Anderson had gasped, like it was the best thing ever created and he wanted to be able to do that too.

RK and Gavin were still holding each other’s hand under the table. Elijah knew it.

Eventually, it was time for Elijah and Markus’ last trial for Cyberlife’s ownership, so they excused themselves.

  
  


“Do you mind if I stay with you ?” Chloe asked the policemen while Elijah was paying for the meal. “Unless you have to work ?”

“Na, we’re good for today. You can stay with us,” Hank answered.

  
  


So Elijah abandoned Chloe with them, knowing she was in good hands, and promising he would call her immediately after the trial. Then Markus and him made their way back to the tribunal.

  
  


“It’s good to see you in your normal state again,” Markus smiled during the walk.

“Yeah... “

“How do you feel ?”

“Dead inside ?”

  
  


Markus watched him, a bit concerned. Elijah waved his hand.

  
  


“I’m very happy and all. Just a bit shaken by how fast stuff is going now.”

“That’s going to pass, eventually.”

“Yeah, I know.”

  
  
  
  


Elijah called Chloe like he had promised, after the trial. Markus and him were in the car, heading to Elijah’s house.

  
  


“ _ Sooooooo ? _ ” Chloe’s cheerful voice started immediately once she picked up.

“Guess I’m back into that mess that is the jungle of ownership,” Elijah sighed as if he was tired about it. He wasn’t. He was pretty happy to be honest.

“ _ Aw, my poor Elijah, _ ” Chloe faked concern too, but Elijah could hear her giggle afterwards.

“Markus and I are heading home now. Do you need a lift ?”

“ _ I’m already at home. I thought I could tidy your worklab up and cook a bit for when you will come back. _ ”

“You are an angel Chloe.”

“ _ I know~ _ ”

  
  


Elijah spent the rest of the ride talking to Chloe, Markus piping up here and there at a question Chloe asked about the trial, or just because the discussion permitted it.

Chloe totally jumped on Elijah when he crossed the front door. He caught her up in mid-air, kinda used to it by now, after years of deviancy making Chloe do rash actions like testing Elijah’s reflexes. 

He didn’t let her down when she tried to get back on her feet.

  
  


“Na, you’re trapped now. I need to catch up with all the hugs I stupidly rejected for a month.”

“Yes, you were stupid !” Chloe poked at his temple, totally fine with being held bridal style. She even made herself comfortable in there.

“Totally stupid,” Markus repeated.

“That’s what I said. How long are you going to stay in Detroit Markus ?”

Markus huffed.  “Considering North found a way to let her temper out, I have to go back to Mexico tomorrow evening.”

“Stay for the night ?”

“I would love that.”

  
  


Elijah smiled at him.

_ Elijah’s life couldn’t be better than now. _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *starts singing and twirling* Gay gay gay Gayvin !!
> 
> Also, just to clarify, for me Elijah and Chloe are TOTALLY together, but I didn't put any obvious thing in this fic, so either you decide to keep them as close friends, or imagine them being all lovey-dovey. Your choice :3
> 
>  
> 
> (guess what's gonna happen in the next chapter now *wiggling eyebrows*)


	30. Deactivation Order (Connor)

Connor couldn’t believe he had forgotten about that. He has just been so focused on everything else, trying to help everybody here and there. Kamski’s trial, Reed’s state, the Red-Ice case. Everything had just crashed it and he forgot about it.

Even the reminder note had disappeared.

So he only remembered it that morning, when two androids from Cyberlife had appeared at Hank’s front door.

_ He was still about to get deactivated. _

RK900 had opened the door, since Connor had been busy making coffee and toasts while Reed was still half-asleep on the couch and Hank was snoring in his bedroom. The sudden beeping in his ear had indicated Connor RK900 was requesting his help, and he ran from the kitchen to the front door, only to freeze there.

_ No no no NO ! _

  
  


“RK800 #313 248 317-51, registered name : Connor, the limit time of your prior notice for deactivation has expired. You are to go to Cyberlife with us to be put out of order.”

  
  


Despite his professional tone, the android was wincing slightly, seeming really uneased about having to ask a fellow deviant to come with him to be deactivated. The other android had a better blank expression.

RK900 and Connor were still frozen into place. RK900 had a worried yellow sparkled red LED glinting at his forehead. He looked like he was pre-constructing different scenarios to find a way to save Connor.

 

**//Communication request sent by RK900 #313 248 317-87 : ACCEPT - REFUSE//**

**//Communication request sent by RK900 #313 248 317-87 : ACCEPT - REFUSE//**

**//Communication with RK900 #313 248 317-87 : FORCEFULLY OPENED//**

 

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87 _ : I-

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : I totally forgot about-

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87 _ : Connor ?

 

Connor was just frozen. His processors had snapped shut and he couldn’t make them reboot.

He was scared scared scared scar-

  
  


“What’s happening ?” Reed slurred as he made his way behind them. His eyes blinked awake when he saw the two androids sent by Cyberlife. “Oh fuck. Anders-”

“Do not wake Hank up !”

  
  


Both RK and Reed stared wildly at him.

  
  


“What ? Isn’t he your father or I don’t know what shit ? You’re about to get fucking killed, of course I’m waking the old blob up !” Reed countered.

“Do not wake him up. Please…”

  
  


That was enough to make Reed shut his mouth. 

 

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Please, don’t go Connor…

 

Connor took a steady breath and made a step toward the androids. He'd rather have it done quickly. He was tired of waiting and stressing out until the day would arrive. And none of his preconstructed scenarios could save him anyway.

Reed snatched his arm and turned him around in one swift movement.

  
  


“The fuck are we supposed to tell Hank uh ?  _ Yeah, your son was fucking KIDNAPPED by Cyberlife this morning and he asked us not to tell you ?! _ ”

“Just take care of him.”

“Con-”

“Just take care of him !”

  
  


Connor slammed the front door shut on RK and Reed’s faces. Let’s get that done quickly with. He was becoming mad having to wait for a deactivation he knew would happen. 

The trip to Cyberlife was silent, the two androids still awfully unseased. Connor was just sitting at the back of the auto, eyes closed. He was reviewing every moment he had with Hank, every moment he had with Markus, of the Revolution, every moment with RK900 and Reed. 

That’s what humans called it right ?  _ Seeing your whole life spill in front of your eyes when you are about to die _ .

It was helping Connor remaining calm, despite how stressed he was. He didn’t want to self-destruct painfully, when Cyberlife’s deactivation basically meant falling asleep and never waking up.

_ He didn’t want to die. _

Everything had been going so nicely lately. 

It had been going nicely with RK900. They were talking more, RK had asked him for help two or three times because he was still mostly lost, being technically only a week old because of his last memory loss.  _ RK even asked him if he knew how human relationships and love stuff were supposed to work ! _

It had been going nicely with Reed too. The man was still calling him and RK names, but they weren’t insults anymore. Barely taunts, at most. Reed was a bit more open to them, accepted his and Hank’s help. Reed’s expression after the trial had been the brightest Connor had ever seen him displaying. He had his brother back, and that obviously pleased him. And with what was happening with RK900, no doubt it would keep getting better.

It had been going nicely with Hank too ! After their period of constant yelling at each other, Connor had managed to get his head back together. They haven’t fought since that last time. Connor had started to feel good again.

It had been going so nicely lately, and they all forgot about his deactivation.

_ Connor was sick. He didn’t want to die. _

_ He still wanted to explore his relationship with RK900. _

_ He still wanted to see how Reed and Kamski will explore their own brotherhood. _

_ He still wanted to hang out with Chloe and Markus. _

_ He still wanted to be Hank’s son. _

They were about to arrive to Cyberlife, the tower displaying before them, when Connor started to shed some tears. It made the two other androids even more uncomfortable.

Connor let himself get lead inside Cyberlife, to a room that looked like a repair lab. Connor felt worse and worse at each second passing.

Another android took the place of his two guides, and gently placed him against a big machine attached to the wall and going through the ceiling. She attached mechanical arms and straps around him.

  
  


“Don’t worry. You will just fall asleep,” she tried to soothe him.

  
  


Connor just ignored her, trying to take steady breaths on steady breaths. He didn’t need it, but it was something he had taken from Hank and Reed to calm himself. He couldn’t help it.

  
  


“Alright, I will activate this. Good night Connor.”

  
  


Connor started crying again.

  
  


“FUCKING STOP THAT !!!”

  
  


Connor flashed his eyes open and stared at the door, which had been slammed open by a very panicked Elijah and a very angry Markus. The female android looked at them, bewildered, and leveled her hands in the air to show she wasn’t touching anything.

  
  


“S-Sirs ?” she asked.

  
  


Elijah ignored her and made his way to Connor. Markus had immediately aimed for the control machine and quickly typed some codes in it, to ensure the whole thing wouldn’t start deactivating Connor randomly.

Connor looked startled between the two of them. Elijah quickly removed the metal arms around Connor and made him step down from the machine.

  
  


“S-Sirs, what is happening ?” the lady android tried again. She looked like she was fearing she had just made a mistake and was about to get yelled at.

“The deactivation order is cancelled. You can go back to work.”

  
  


The lady suddenly looked relieved. She glanced apologetically at Connor, who barely registered her, and disappeared from the room.

Elijah had his hands on Connor’s tears-stained cheeks and was brushing off the wet droplets with his thumbs. Connor still looked totally scared.

  
  


“Shhh, it’s good Connor. You won’t be deactivated. I cancelled the order. You won’t die. Look at me. Focus on me ok ?”

  
  


Markus abandoned the control panel to place a hand on Connor’s shoulder and massage him a bit.

  
  


“Wh- Wha- What-”

“Reed called us earlier,” Markus started quietly.

“He was yelling because there was still a deactivation order for you, and that you’ve just been  _ kidnapped _ by Cyberlife.”

“We came here as quickly as possible.”

  
  


Connor still looked wildly between the two of them, LED circling red again and again and again.

  
  


“You- Reed- he called-” he couldn’t talk. He still couldn’t talk at all. His processors were running wild and it made his thoughts incoherent.

“Yeah. He told us to stop everything. God, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had that deactivation order, I would have cancelled it yesterday right when we got Cyberlife’s papers,” Elijah apologized, looking genuinely remorseful. He was still holding Connor’s face and brushing his cheeks.

“Why didn’t you tell us anything about that ?”

  
  


Connor looked at Markus for a few seconds. Why had he-

  
  


“I- I didn’t remember. Nobody remembered. We were just all- all happy about things ge- getting better. We didn’t-”

“Hey, shh, it’s alright now,” Markus whispered, his hand going higher to brush against Connor’s scalp.

“Anderson, Gavin and RK are on their way here,” Elijah said, trying to be reassuring, but it had the opposite effect. Connor started to wail.

“H-H-Hank will h-hate me !”

“What are you talking about ?” Markus blinked. “Anderson loves you.”

“I- I didn’t wake him up be- before coming here. He- He will be a- angry !”

  
  


Connor sounded every bit like a six years old, but he couldn’t stop himself from weeping. He was still so scared, and he was sure Hank hated him and will yell at him when he will arrive, and Reed will yell too, and RK900 will be disappointed, and  _ Connor was so scared, even now. _

  
  


“Connor, boy,” Elijah hushed his wails a bit. “I may not know Anderson much, but from the way he treated you and Gavin yesterday, I can say for sure he will not yell at you because he is the best dad you both could have.”

“If Anderson does yell,” Markus continued with the same tone as Elijah, “I am sure it will be because he was scared of losing you and need to exteriorise it. It won’t be against you.”

“Exactly, so don’t be scared about the three of them barging in ok ? They will be loud, ok, because that’s who they are, but they won’t be angry at you. They’re your family, right ?”

  
  


Connor nodded wildly at that.  _ He wanted to see them. _

  
  
  
  


Hank, Reed and RK barged into Cyberlife’s hall only five minutes later. Hank was still in full pyjama, hair a mess and heavy eye bags. Connor had been waiting for them in the waiting hall, Markus still at his side for support, while Elijah had disappeared into the tower to verify there wasn’t anymore deactivation order for poor deviants who only wanted to live.

Connor didn’t dare to look at Hank. He didn’t want to see disappointment in his eyes. He didn’t want to look at his face when he will start to yell.

But instead of yelling, Hank made a beeline to him and dropped on his knees before Connor to forcefully take him into a bear hug.  _ Connor hadn’t thought about that kind of scenario. _ After a moment of surprise, he hugged Hank back with an equal amount of force and buried his face in his shoulder.

  
  


“Dad…”

“I’m so glad you are alright Connor. I’m so, so glad you are alright !”

“I’m sorry…”

“You’re alive. You’re alive you’re alive-”

  
  


They stayed like that for a full quarter, just hugging without a word, Reed and RK standing awkwardly behind, before Elijah came back to the hall.

  
  


“Looks like there isn’t any other deactivation order,” he announced, before he took sight of the two still glued together. “Ah, ignore me.”

  
  


Hank receded slightly from the hug. He first looked at Markus, for a full minute, then he turned to look at Elijah.

  
  


“Thank you, both of you…”

Elijah waved. “No, it’s Gavin you have to thank. He was the one to call and yell at us to stop everything.”

“Thank you,” Hank repeated again, to all of them. Elijah smiled and Reed shuffled on his feet.

“Well, kinda saved us from our father so… just repaying, you know. Glad we managed to stop that on time.”

  
  


RK900 was very quiet and very still, a bit apart from them. His LED was a urgent yellow since he passed Cyberlife’s door.

  
**//Communication request sent by RK900 #313 248 317-87 : ACCEPT - REFUSE//**

**//Communication request sent by RK900 #313 248 317-87 : ACCEPTED//**

 

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : I’m glad you are alright.

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : I was really scared. It was awful. It felt like nothing was functioning in my head.

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything.

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : Don’t apologize.

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : I was so scared too…

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : I still feel awful !

 

RK made his way quietly to Connor’s side, opposite to Markus, and sat down. He gave a hand to Connor, who barely looked at it before putting his own hand on top. Their skin dispatched at the same time to start interfacing.

 

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Apparently it’s easier to deal with emotions when you vent about it.

 

RK900 had his canal wide open, ready to accept whatever rush of emotion Connor would send his way. And Connor didn’t try to resist it.

The stress accumulated during that month, the sadness, the anger, the hatred, the distraught feeling, the anxiety, the betrayal, the void, the too much, the dizzying, the hurt, the choking, the suffocating, the tears, the trapped feeling, the crushed hope, the abandon.

It was hurting him. All of this was hurting him, and he let it go. It finally materialised into something, and not just a vague, dirty feeling crushing his thirium pump. It made him spill tears, it made him sob, it made him clench his teeth. It was awful.

RK was in the same state as him, absorbing every single emotion Connor was throwing away, and letting them go the same way. He was crying unshed tears, he was gritting his teeth, he was choking.

 

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Are you feeling better ?

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : Not yet…

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Me neither.

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : I’m alive.

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : You’re alive.

 

Connor didn’t really think at that point. He just threw his free arm over RK900’s shoulder and forced him into a hug. Hug that he returned almost immediately. 

 

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : Thank you brother.

 

He could feel RK900 smile brightly in his head.

He could see Hank smile kindly before him.

He could see Reed, Elijah and Markus relieved expression too.

 

_ He was still alive. _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT there's just the epilogue left aaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAH !!! *hm hm* Sorry


	31. Sunday with the Family (Epilogue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh oh oh ! Three chapters into one ? Wowow ! Also I promised so *starts giving bandaid and healing gels for your broken hearts* Enjoy this little slice of life <3

“Oh. My. God.”

  
  


Chloe leveled her eyes at him and gave him a confused look. Elijah could feel his heart clench. She looked absolutely beautiful, a big braid on top of her head and two little framing it at each side. The hair at the lower part of her head were let loose and waved a bit.  _ She looked amazing. _

Elijah had finally made that viking braid he had been trying on her for months.

  
  


“Does it look good ?” she asked, with a little smile, and it made Elijah’s heart jump.

“You are perfect.”

  
  


Her smile grew wider. She got up and approached Elijah’s still thunderstruck body to place a kiss on his cheek.

  
  


“Thank you Elijah. Your turn now.”

  
  


Elijah rolled his eyes, but obliged and sat down on the chair so Chloe could start braiding his hair too.

Before, braiding Chloe’s hair had been a way to forget about everything else. He did it to calm his angers, to forget a bit about his work and start with a clear mind, to take time for himself and not stress over upcoming meetings. It was something soothing. He would always take extra-time just caressing her hair, drinking in the silk-like texture, and the perfectly combed threads of hair. Then he would start doing random stuff, mostly horrible attempts of hair style he had in mind and thought would look good on Chloe. But Elijah sucked at hairdressing, so it always turned into a confusing mess of hair, and Chloe would laugh at her new head and get revenge by making ridiculous styles on his head too.

When Elijah heard about his father’s rumors, four months ago, he had started focusing on a particular hairstyle, because his mind wouldn’t stop wandering back to his father, even with Chloe’s hair between his fingers. So he had started to look for a difficult thing to do, and he just found a very pretty viking braid on the internet. Elijah sucked at braiding. So each of his attempts turned into a mess. But at least it made him focus on something.

He had not touched Chloe’s hair at all for the full month of the trial, but the habits had quickly came back as soon as he had started to feel better. As soon as his father was in jail, as soon as Cyberlife’s papers were back in his and Markus’ hands, as soon as Connor was saved and his brother made him promise they would keep in touch starting now. Barely a week after the last day of trial, Elijah was back nagging Chloe about wanting to successfully make this braid. He should have drop it as soon as everything else had been dropped, but he wanted to finish it, as to turn a new page definitely.

Elijah was just a weird prick who needed some strange stuff without much link with his problems done to finally feel like it was. And it took three months for him to manage to do it.

But Chloe was totally stunning now, so Elijah didn’t regret at all the hours spent messing with her hair with that.

Now he only wanted to make more viking braids on her because it was making her look like the most beautiful person on Earth.

  
  


“Here, I’m done,” Chloe sang happily.

“That was fast.”

  
  


Elijah touched his hair first, quickly frowning at what he was feeling. He got up and made his way to the closest mirror to look at himself. Chloe had made him a big braid on top of his head, and one little at each side. The big braid stopped at the beginning of his usual bun, but the two tiny braids were mangled in it.

  
  


“You made it match yours ?” he asked, turning his head left to right to take in the sight. He didn’t look as good as Chloe with viking braids, even though it was done a lot better than Elijah’s attempts on her head.

Chloe nodded firmly. “Yes !”

“You know Gavin will bug me with that later, right ?” Elijah asked, smirking at Chloe through the mirror. Chloe’s smile grew even wider, if possible.

“I know !” she was incredibly proud of herself.

  
  


Chloe had started to take great pleasure at helping Gavin annoy his big brother. It had started with random comments here and there, about how Elijah, despite his blank expression and confident state, was always checking at his phone and wondering if Gavin would really text him, or even answer his text now. Gavin would snort, Elijah would try to retort those were lies.

Those weren’t lies. When the trial and the last event with Connor ended, Elijah had started to dread Gavin and him would stop talking to each other again. He had started to grow anxious that his brother would still feel bad around him, because of their last fight, and every dirty thing Elijah had done to him before. Elijah truly wanted to have his relationship with his brother back, but he wasn’t sure Gavin did. Chloe had tried to soothe him, whispering sweet words that Gavin wanted it to happen just as much as Elijah.

All that anxiety had been for nothing, in the end. Because barely ten seconds after Elijah had sent his first text, an invitation to come over for the afternoon if he wanted to, Gavin had replied with a joyful  _ YES _ . After five more minutes, his brother had sheepishly asked if he could bring RK too. 

Those two were utter dorks. But that gave Elijah a chance to nag Gavin about something, just like Gavin and Chloe had teamed up to annoy him. It all stayed playful, of course. The intent had never been to hurt anybody. The two or three occasions it had turned a little sour, Gavin or Elijah had been quick to apologise to each other.

It was working well between them. Now, three months after the end of the trial, they were still sometimes a bit tentative around each other, but they were mostly back to their original relationship, before Elijah left the house and their father tried to turn them against each other.

Elijah might be a little overprotective with Gavin, but the other only complained once, so Elijah wasn’t going to change that. It was about three weeks after the trial. Gavin had came back from a mission pretty hurt, though he was dismissing how bad it was at both RK and Elijah’s concern. He had ended up snapping at them that he didn’t need babysitters, because they had both teamed up to ensure Gavin would be fine. For the rest, Gavin never complained.

He didn’t even complain that one time Elijah barged into the DPD for his birthday to give him his presents hand to hand. Elijah had been horribly busy with Cyberlife, and couldn’t have come earlier or later, in private, to do that, so he had just barged in the bullpen, put his whole load of presents on Gavin’s desk under his bewildered eyes, chirped a loud  _ Happy Birthday brother !! _ at him and hugged him, before running away as quickly as he came in to be on time for his next reunion.

Well, Gavin had yelled a bit at him on the phone after that, but it was mostly embarrassment due to him being the center of the attention of the whole precinct now.

It didn’t took long for media to hear about Gavin, and to finally know why their father had been sent to jail. Because Elijah’s lawyer was a gift to humanity, let us remind this, she had managed to hush everything down, and the only thing that had filtered had been that Sir Arthur Kamski was condemned to eight years in jail for child abuse.

Now, the media and basically everybody following actualities knew Gavin and Elijah were brothers, and Elijah was the one suing his own father. It had destabilized Gavin a bit, at first, since he definitely wasn’t used to being in the center of the gossips, but Elijah had quickly helped him manage the amount of attention, and had offered him his lawyer, would he need one someday.

So yeah, Elijah and Gavin’s relationship was going nicely.

Upon being with Gavin that much, Elijah had finally made links with Hank, Connor and RK. It was mostly RK to be honest. He sometimes called him on his private line to ask him what Gavin liked, or if he thought his brother would enjoy this and that attention. A few times, Elijah had had to interrupt him because it was a LOT too private for him to hear. Gavin had made him the same hit not so long ago, asking him  _ how the fuck he was supposed to have sex with an android without genitalia _ . 

His life was so different now, sometimes Elijah felt like he was going to wake up suddenly and everything would be lost. But Chloe was always there to remind him it had truly happened.

  
  


“Alright, we should get going now,” Elijah suddenly stated, blinking out of his own introspection to see Chloe giggling at him.

“Sure Elijah.”

  
  


They left the house and made their way downtown. It had became a common thing, on sundays, to meet everybody at either Hank’s house or Elijah’s. They would chat during lunch, play video games and watch movies in the afternoon, and they would sometimes part after dinner, or decide to stay invading the owner’s house for the night. It was a routine Elijah particularly enjoyed, and sometimes he would even bring Markus with him when the android wasn’t overbooked with political stuff. Once, he brought the whole Jericho crew here and it was still the wildest evening Elijah had spent there. North truly was something.

It took three quarters before Elijah stepped off of the vehicle in Hank’s alley, only to be immediately assaulted by Sumo. It was a short thing, because as soon as Chloe was in the dog’s point of view, the massive hairball abandoned Elijah to go lick her face happily. That dog had a thing for androids, Elijah was sure.

Hank was the one opening the front door, and immediately snorted at picking on Elijah and Chloe’s matching hairstyle.

  
  


“Hey there kid, looking good.”

“Always,” Elijah replied with a smirk that made the old man roll his eyes.

“It’s nice to see you Hank,” Chloe piped up beside Elijah, Sumo still glued to her leg as she was petting him absentmindedly.

  
  


They made their way in, to be met by the view of Connor and RK looking up at Gavin’s phone that they were holding above their head, while a very red Gavin was jumping to try to snatch it back.

  
  


“Wow, Gavin, bullied by your own lover and his brother,” Elijah laughed at seeing the scene. Gavin stopped jumping and snapped his head toward him.

“Want to talk about Chloe bossing you around ?” he snarled.

  
  


Elijah shrugged, and Gavin pulled his attention back to the androids. He placed a hand on Rk’s shoulder, a feet on one of his thighs, and pushed himself on the android to finally take a grip at his phone. Elijah could see a flash of compromising photos displaying on the screen, and fought hard not to laugh. No wonder Connor had that little smirk on his face, and RK’s eyes were slightly mischievous. It was a pretty picture, no doubt there was more in there.

Gavin hit RK in the chest, not that it would hurt the android. The two RK brothers finally looked at the newcomers and smiled (or eyesmiled for RK) at them.

  
  


“Good afternoon !” they said at the exact same time, with the same tone and the same little gesture. It made Gavin shudder.

“Ugh, stop that creepy stuff.”

  
  


It wasn’t the first time they were doing that. Actually, they seemed to love creeping people out, at work or outside, with their matched mind and resemblance. Elijah loved that, Gavin was always creeped by it, Hank appreciated their quirks, and sometimes Chloe would join their game and imitate them, so that the three could be creepy together.

Phone back in his pocket, Gavin finally took a better look on Elijah and Chloe, and he grimaced immediately.

  
  


“Matching braids ? Really ? And I’m the dork one here ?”

“For my defense, it was Chloe’s doing,” Elijah put his hands in the air, pleading non-guilty.

“It was,” Chloe admitted.

  
  


Gavin rolled his eyes and muttered a “ _ Don’t even think about it _ ” to RK, whose LED was a thoughtful yellow as he was staring back and forth between Chloe and Elijah. Hank stepped up and attracted everybody’s attention, but his gaze was on Elijah.

  
  


“Alright son, now that you’re here, let’s get to eat ok ? I’ve been starving for an hour.”

  
  


Elijah blinked at him.

  
  


“Son ?” he replied. He could see Gavin snort behind Hank.  _ It was the first time Hank would call him that way _ .

“Dooork,” Gavin nagged Elijah, but he ignored him.

“Yeah, Gavin is family, so it’s only logical that you are too, right ? Chloe too, of course,” he nodded at Chloe.

  
  


Chloe chirped happily without a second thought. Elijah only blinked a few more times. Gavin reddened in the background, not that it was the first time he was hearing Hank call him son or family.

  
  


“Like I told Gavin before, if you don’t want, it’s fine,” Hank said as if it wasn’t an important thing, but there was still a hint of expectancy in his eyes.

“No. No, I would love that. Just don’t expect me to call you dad,” Elijah said with a raised brow, using the same tone as Hank, but a smirk was creeping slowly on his lips. Hank huffed.

“Weren’t you starving ?” Gavin interrupted them with a pointed look. 

“Right !”

  
  


So Elijah was becoming a part of their little family. It was so weird, thinking about them as family, considering the shitty one he had had to deal with in his childhood. But Elijah was fine with that. He was happy with that. Beside, Hank was dad-material, Elijah knew it the day he laid his eyes on him back when Connor wasn’t a deviant yet. The events from months ago only reinforced that feeling.

Elijah could do with Hank as his new dad.

  
  
  
  


“What the fuck Eli ?!!” Gavin screamed, body tensed like he was going to jump from the couch.

“Oops ?” 

  
  


Elijah didn’t look guilty at all. Gavin’s kart stayed frozen for a few seconds because of the effects of the red shell Elijah had just launched at him. Chloe giggled happily when it made her pass first and high-fived Elijah when she crossed the finishing line before Gavin.

Connor apparently sucked at this game. He didn’t know why, but he could never get in the top three ever, it always being Gavin, Chloe and Hank (mostly in that order). RK wasn’t better beside him, heavily glaring at the controller in his hands. He had just finished good last, even getting beaten by the two easy-programmed IA. At least, Connor had managed to end fifth behind Elijah.

 

**//Communication request sent by RK900 #313 248 317-87 : ACCEPT - REFUSE//**

**//Communication request sent by RK900 #313 248 317-87 : ACCEPTED//**

 

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Why is it so hard ? That doesn’t make any sense !

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : I don’t know.

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Aren’t there other games ?

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : They are not for more than two players.

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Tch.

 

Connor laughed quietly. If one thing he had learned quickly with RK, it was that the other android  _ hated _ losing. He would get all grumpy and snappy when he would start losing a game several times in the row, or even failing to accomplish his tasks at work. It was because RK was supposed to be programmed to never fail. RK took it bad because his codes were getting wild each time he wasn’t the best one.

  
  


“I swear Eli, I’m strafing you this time !” Gavin growled when he started a new race.

“Come on, you keep winning. Let us have our little victories too.”

“No way ! The stronger wins, period !”

  
  


Connor saw Elijah wink at Chloe. No doubt they will team up again against Gavin. He also saw Hank look at him. Connor only blinked, not knowing what he wanted.

Elijah and Chloe did pair up during that party and arrived before Gavin who was screaming at them. Hank had spent the whole race at the last position and pushed RK in the cubes or helped the android brothers straf the IA to ensure they would at least arrive before them. Making Connor, RK and Hank arrive in fourth, fifth and sixth position.

Connor knew RK was still a bit annoyed, but he had that hint of happiness in his eyes at finally winning against the IA.

  
  


“Alright, let’s stop here,” Hank huffed when he leaned back on the couch. “Gavin looks like he would try and murder you would you help Chloe to win again.”

  
  


Elijah laughed at that, and Gavin grumbled loudly. 

They packed the game and the console back in the tv console and decided to watch a movie now. Just like every week, they lost a good hour bickering about which film to watch. RK was mostly fine with everything, except psychedelic movies. Gavin was a lot too stubborn about watching cops movies or Disney. Elijah loved sci-fi, especially if it involved robots, and he was a huge fan of Marvel. Chloe loved cop movies like Gavin, but she could watch anything at all, with a weird preference for slashers. Hank was a huge fan of animation movies and old action movies, and so was Connor. So each time, it was Hank and Gavin teaming up to watch animations, or Chloe and Gavin with cop movies and thrillers. 

Today, it was Chloe and Gavin who wanted to watch Mission: Impossible. Elijah was bickering with them that it was a terrible serie of movies, while Hank was bickering because they wanted to watch the movie from 2018 when the ones before were so much better.

Connor and RK ended up backing up Chloe and Gavin, or they would still fight over the movie choice for another hour.

Except when Hank switched the tv on and started to settle DVD player, Gavin cried out and told him not to zap.

  
  


“Son, we literally just decided to watch your movie, what the fuck ?” Hank growled.

“Oh god, not that show,” Elijah grunted immediately after him.

“What is it ?” Connor blinked at the screen. There was a group of police officers talking in their office or something.

“Brooklyn 99’s best episode !!” Gavin chirped.  _ Chirped. _

  
  


The androids just stared at him, all of them. Elijah looked so done, and so was Hank.

  
  


“Of course you’d be a fan of Brooklyn 99,” Hank sighed, abandoning the DVD player there.

“Oh please, I’d rather watch the whole serie of Mission: Impossible than watch that serie for the  _ fucking fifteenth time _ !” Elijah hissed, glaring at Gavin who was focused on the screen, a stupid smile on his face.

“Brooklyn 99 is the best and you can’t deny that,” he retorted, not looking back at his brother.

“Brooklyn 99 is a mediocre show.”

  
  


Gavin gasped exaggeratedly at that, looking at Elijah as if he had blasphemed God or something.

  
  


“You can’t say that !”

“It’s mediocre.”

“Brooklyn is the best show ever !!”

“You only say that because you have a crush on Jake.”

  
  


That made Gavin gasp once more.

  
  


“And you  _ literally _ joined the force only because of that thing.”

  
  


Hank started laughing, making Connor smirk in turn. Gavin was bright red, still gasping. But out of the corner of his eyes, Connor could see RK’s LED turning yellow as he was looking at the TV screen and taking sight of said Jake Peralta.

 

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : You good ?

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : I am.

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : You’re not jealous right ?

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : ...

 

Gavin cried out when Hank started the DVD player, and made the episode disappear from the screen. Elijah  _ thanked god _ under his breath and Chloe laughed beside him.

 

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : He loves you, don’t worry.

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : I know.

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : I already watched that movie.

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Me too.

  
_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Connor ?

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : Yes ?

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Elijah didn’t answer me when I asked last time.

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : I found some videos but I am not very sure about it.

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : Sure about what ?

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Gavin. 

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : The next step.

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : Oh…

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : Oh !!

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : Er, I’m not sure I can help. What do you need to know ?

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Well, I don’t have any parts to please him. I don’t really mind about how it will feel like for me, but I want to make him happy.

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Should I get an extension ?

 

Oh. His little brother was totally asking him for advices about sexual intercourses. But Connor never did that, how was he supposed to know ? He knew how it worked between androids. He knew how it worked between humans. He didn’t know at all how it worked between humans and androids.

He ran a quick research, looking for forums and videos he was sure RK had already consulted.

But RK was probably not asking him _how_ _to do it_. Rather, how to get to it without weirding Gavin out because of his lack of parts. Gavin probably didn’t know about RK lack of parts, they should probably talk about it before no ? Or maybe Gavin knew ? It was common knowledge most androids but Tracis didn’t have parts, so probably Gavin knew there was a lot of chances his partner wouldn’t have a phallus. Or maybe he didn’t know because it came out of his mind. Gavin often forgot they were androids and not made 100% like humans.

Connor couldn’t find an answer.

It wouldn’t be the first time. RK was coming to him a lot about relationship questions, but Connor could never really answer any of them. Connor didn’t know why he kept on asking him, when he was obviously more clueless than his little brother. But RK was coming always.

Had come to him the first time Gavin kissed him, after the trial, because he had a flow of error messages clouding his visual display and he was suddenly scared he would reboot again and lose his memories, even though it was illogical. Had come to him when he wanted to give a gift to Gavin because he had learned it was something boyfriends would do, like giving flowers and stuff. Had come to him when he learned too late about Gavin’s birthday and was sad and a bit panicked, because he had not anticipated anything for the event.

RK wasn’t only asking him about Gavin. It was actually on rather rare occasions. Mostly, RK was trying to know if what he was feeling was normal. If there was really no chance he would reboot and lose his memory again if he started to feel too much. If he was doing things alright in social situations.

RK was really scared of doing things wrong, especially in the feeling topic. He was scared about losing his memories and everything that came with it. He was scared of losing Gavin. He was scared of the flood of error messages each time he couldn’t contain his feelings. He was sometimes even scared of his own feelings, about how overwhelming it was, or if it was normal to feel this or that way when the situation was not at all supposed to make him feel that way.

RK was also scared of failure. That one time Gavin came back from a mission half dead, RK had been on the verge of auto-destruction. When Connor had interfaced with him to try and disperse the amount of stress and emotion RK was drowning in, he had seen it wasn’t just a matter of stress level. There had been alarms everywhere,  _ mission failure _ pop ups everywhere in sight, error messages, threats of reboot RK was dismissing again and again even though it was supposed to help him reduce his stress level.

That one time he had let a culprit run away after a murder, RK had silently scrambled down in his corner, not wanting anybody to know about his state. Connor had known, and when they had interfaced again, the  _ mission failure _ pop ups were still there, red red red, and it was making error messages appear again because RK was guiltying himself.

There just seemed to be something in RK that made him take failure a lot harder than anything else. 

But Connor had always been there for him. It had been his mission, until now, to reassure RK at each one of his silent breakdowns, when he didn’t want Gavin to know. It had been his mission to help him through deviancy and his experimentations with feelings. It was his mission to help him when his brother needed him.

 

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : I don’t think you should get an extension.

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : Just talk to him. Ask him how he wants to do it, and if he doesn’t know either, just talk about it together and find a solution.

_ RK800 #313 248 317-51 _ : That’s the best I can come with, sorry.

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : No, thank you.

_ RK900 #313 248 317-87  _ : Thank you for always helping me.

 

Connor smiled.

He was being a good big brother right ? Connor liked to think he was. He had made great efforts to become one. 

It had taken a few days after his nearly deactivation to stop acting weird around RK. The way RK had helped him deal with his emotions at Cyberlife had made him willing to put his trust between the hands of the other android, but Connor had just felt slightly off after that, especially with RK, and even now he still didn’t understand why.

The reason he had quickly grown accustomed to RK had been Hank. Hank being the best father ever, he had started getting closer to Gavin and RK at work, and they all started to hang out together. At first Hank was calling  _ son _ Gavin and Connor only, but one day he suddenly decided to include RK. And it had made something ping inside Connor’s mind.

Connor had heavily asked for Hank’s support. He was a bit nervous he wouldn’t be great in his role as a big brother, considering the way his and RK’ relationship started.

Hank just reminded him RK didn’t remember how Connor treated him. He knew about it because of the interfacing at Cyberlife and the logbook. That was all. That in mind, it had helped calming Connor’s worries. After that, he had just acted on instinct, letting RK come to him, and going to see him when he thought something was wrong with the younger android. Connor just had a thing helping him know when RK was feeling down. Connor couldn’t be more grateful than now about it.

RK had told him several times he was glad Connor was his brother. Always with that pureness that baffled Connor each and every time. But each time, it made Connor’s thirium pump ache happily.

Connor was also glad RK was his brother.

And Hank had told him several times he was proud of him. That he couldn’t have a better son, better sons that he had now. Hank was just so proud of everybody, Gavin, RK, Connor, Elijah or Chloe alike. He thought RK was a goddamn dork, but a cute one. He thought Connor was the best gift ever given to him by that bitch that was Karma. He thought Chloe was an angel coming right from Heaven. He thought Elijah was a little demon coming right from Hell, but he still loved him nonetheless. So did he loved Gavin, despite him coming right from Hell too. Hank was particularly fond of him, and did his best to prove him and his brother they could have a real family, and a real father.

Hank was happier than ever, now that he could fully let his  _ dad-side _ free. Now that he could correctly use it.

Connor was happier than ever too. If one day he thought he would have that kind of family, he would never have believed it.

  
  
  


 

“Does your monster always have to annoy me ?” Gavin groaned at some point, during the evening.

“Sumo loves you,” Connor smiled at him from where he was on the couch.

“Well, I don’t love him,” Gavin snarled.

  
  


Gavin scooped his legs on the couch and got as far as possible from the massive beast that was turning around his legs since he had stepped in Anderson’s house. The only moments he had been left alone were when Chloe decided she wanted some affection from that thing. And also when she trapped Sumo to braid his whole tail. Hank had made a very exaggerated eye roll at that, but Sumo still had the braid so it probably didn’t annoy him as much as he displayed it.

Instead of leaving him alone, now, Sumo was getting closer, even putting his head on the couch and looking up at him.

  
  


“Why do you like me, you beast ?” he hissed at the dog, who of course didn’t answer.

  
  


Gavin got on RK’s laps, not knowing what else he could do to make the dog stop following him. Sumo didn’t like RK, for some unknown reason nobody in here could understand. So when Gavin was glued  _ on _ RK, Sumo tended to leave him alone.

RK snuggled him closer and wrapped his arms around Gavin’s waist. Gavin let him do, despite the little knowing look Elijah was shooting him.

Elijah got up suddenly, making a little head move at Chloe.

  
  


“Well, I think I’ll have to go. I have a lot of work to do at Cyberlife tomorrow,” he excused himself, but he was still smirking at Gavin.

  
  


_ Oh the little shit. _

Connor nodded, on the other side of the couch.

  
  


“We have a big case awaiting us too Dad, you should go to sleep too.”

“The adults are supposed to give bedtimes to their kids, not the contrary,” Hank grunted, but he was already standing up. “You staying there kid ?” 

  
  


Gavin was about to say yes, because Hank’s couch was fucking nice, and it always gave him an occasion to sleep  _ on top _ of RK. At home, the bed was big enough for two so they cuddled more often. But Gavin had to admit RK was a good mattress, and he had grown used to the blue light of his temple glowing in the dark, and the purring of his thirium pump he could hear when his head was pressed against the android’s chest.

But of course Elijah decided to be a bitch.

  
  


“Na, I’m going to drive him home,” he said before Gavin could nod, giving a devious smirk to his brother. Gavin was glaring.

“Alright.”

  
  


Gavin could have argued that he wanted to stay, but he didn’t. The four of them waved goodnight to Hank and Connor and left the house. Only then did Gavin glare at Elijah again.

  
  


“ _ Why ? _ ” he hissed.

“Because I love to mess with you.”

  
  


_ Of fucking course _ .

Elijah and Gavin talked some more in the car about nothing and everything.

Cyberlife was doing good. They didn’t make androids anymore, only providing parts and instauring repair and updates shops here and there in Detroit. Later, they would expand it to other states. They were also creating new updates, new ameliorations and capacities androids could plug. It was taking much more time and efforts than Gavin would have thought. Elijah was basically living in Cyberlife again.

But Elijah was happy to do this. Elijah was happy going back to his nerd stuff and putting efforts into improving his  _ babies _ again. Gavin was happy for him too. He looked like that little kid who had just finished installing an IA in the kitchen to help his brother. All proud and happy and excited. Gavin didn’t think he would ever again hate seeing his brother that happy.

Because he had, after Elijah’s departure. He had loathed his smiles, and his laughters, and his exploits. He had loathed how happy his brother had became after leaving the house and starting to do something he liked, while Gavin was trapped in their home with their father and still had to suffer, alone, because  _ he had abandoned him _ . At that time, Gavin had wished more than once that his brother would fail and stop being happy without him.

_ Gavin had been so uglily jealous. _

That had been one of the reason they had started to fight. Because Gavin couldn’t handle a happy Elijah. And because he kept on reminding him running away from home at seventeen was a stupid thing to do. And because he didn’t like androids too. All of that had made them start to fight. More and more often. More and more violently. Because Elijah had always rejected everything he was saying, and everything he was feeling. Elijah had ignored his feelings at that time.

They had fought until everything broke down, and they didn’t talk at all after that. And Gavin hadn’t felt any better. Actually, he had felt worse. Because Elijah had continued to be happy with his company, and that renowned painter and his own personal android, while Gavin had been fighting to just keep his place into the DPD.

It hadn’t been a bright period at all. Gavin couldn’t voice how relieved he was that everything was behind him now. He had Elijah back, their father wouldn’t be a nuisance for a minimum of eight years, and he… he had a family ?

He had a father, and a lover, and his lover’s brother (who was also his own brother since he was his father’s son ? God, it was confusing and slightly creepy like that). And Gavin still had hard times believing all of this was true and he wasn’t still drunk dead in the basement of the old house. But it was. Waking up with RK lying next to him in bed was reminding it to him every morning. His brother’s taunts through texts was reminding it to him everyday. The way Hank and Connor acted with him at work and outside was reminding it to him everyday.

And Gavin was so fucking happy, he couldn’t even think of another time he had felt that way. Maybe the day he had made it into Detroit Police and had finally an excuse to run away from his father, but it still hadn’t been the same.

Gavin would give everything to keep the things the way they are now, because it was fucking perfect !

  
  


“Alright, good night Gavin !!”

  
  


Gavin glared at Elijah when they stopped in front of his building. This fucker was a bit too excited. He should never have asked him anything.

  
  


“Yeah, ‘night. Night Chloe.”

  
  


Chloe waved cheerly at him, and then the car was out of view. Gavin took a deep breath to calm himself down and make the glare leave his face.

  
  


“Are you alright ?” RK asked him.

“He annoys me.”

  
  


Gavin could see the phantom smile ghost on RK’s lips, despite it being impossible. Gavin smiled back at him and lead the way back to his flat. RK had the keys, like always, because if one thing hadn’t change between the first RK and the last, it was his fucking habit of stealing Gavin’s keys. Now it extended to his phone too, actually. Gavin stretched as soon as he stepped in his living room and discarded his shoes haphazardly.

  
  


“‘not tired yet and we have another day off tomorrow. You wanna do something ?”

  
  


He almost missed the flicker of yellow on RK’s temple. It made Gavin worry a bit. Just a tiny bit, because it was only a blink and not a full light show.

  
  


“May we talk ?”

  
  


Ok, now Gavin was really  _ really _ worried. Did he do something ? Did RK do something ? Did something happen ?

Gavin nodded, and RK made him sit down on the couch, sitting next to him, though there was a bit of distance between them.

_ Oh god, he won’t dump him right ?! _

Each time someone had started a discussion with a  _ can we talk _ and an awkward sitting down, it was because one of his boyfriends wanted to stop their relationship and go see somewhere else. Because Gavin was a mess, even at his best. He was rash, he had a loud mouth, he had anger issue and he had unhealthy habits. Nobody ever wanted to stay with him more than a few months.

And it’s been three months since him and RK started to go out. RK must have grow tired of him, must have found someone better, who didn’t break down or had nightmares that often, who wasn’t glued to his ass 24/7 like Gavin was. He must have finally seen Gavin wasn’t worth his time and he could do so much better.

_ RK was going to dump him ! _

  
  


“Your vitals suddenly increased,” RK said, a bit surprised.

“Yeah, no shit,” Gavin snapped.

  
  


Oh fuck, it wasn’t time to snap ! Gavin didn’t need to give him another reason to abandon him. Gavin didn’t want RK to leave. He needed him ! He  _ loved _ him ! He didn’t want to have to deal with another abandon, especially not from him. He didn’t want-

  
  


“Did I start that talk the wrong way ?”

“Depends what you want to say,” Gavin answered defensively, arms crossing on his chest. “If you want to dump me then it was the perfect way.”

RK’s eyes suddenly looked totally horrified. “I don’t want to dump you,” he blinked, looking disgusted by the mere thought of it. It made something ease in Gavin’s chest. “I love you.”

  
  


Gavin’s concerns melted away before the sincerity of those three little words. He breathed slightly better and his shoulder relaxed. He couldn’t help the little smile that decorated his lips.

  
  


“I love you too,” he murmured, quietly, because he was still uncomfortable about saying it out loud. “So, what did you want to talk about ?”

  
  


The yellow came back on RK’s temple, a bit longer than before, but it eventually came back to a calm blue.

  
  


“Connor said I needed to talk to you.”

“About…?”

“Sex.”

  
  


Gavin suddenly choked on his saliva and coughed a few times. He  _ definitely _ didn’t expect that ! 

Gavin didn’t usually wait a lot before engaging sexual intercourses with his partners. A matter of days, at most. It was the first time he had waited that long without doing anything, or even hinting he wanted to do anything. But he had just too many questions twirling in his mind that stopped him from doing anything.

Did androids even have sexual needs ? Didn’t they have other way to do that ? And if they had sexual needs, did  _ RK _ had them ? Besides, how was he supposed to have sex with someone who didn’t have genitalia ? Gavin had watched a few porns and consulted some forums, of course. But would RK even accept opening vulnerable areas and letting Gavin shove a hand in it ?

  
  


“Are you alright ?” RK asked again, patting Gavin’s back to help him calm his coughing.

“Do you- Do you want to have sex ?” Gavin asked instead of answering RK.

“I want to please you.”

“No no no.”

  
  


RK looked hurt, but Gavin quickly continued.

  
  


“Having sex, it’s not about pleasing your partner ! Well, not only. You have to want it.”

“I want it,” RK blurted bluntly.

  
  


_ Oh. My. God. _

  
  


“Then you- you are asking me if I want to have sex with you ?”

RK tilted his head slightly. “Yes. And how you want to do it. I was not built with organs permitting that kind of acts with a human.”

  
  


Yeah. Gavin knew about that. 

Gavin was a bit touched. His partners usually didn’t ask him if he wanted, before doing it. There were suggestive touches, and if Gavin didn’t want it he would swat their hands away. But there were never explicit questions, explicit asks of consent.

Gavin took RK’s hands sheepishly. He knew he was starting to be red.

  
  


“I… kinda read somewhere about, er, panels and… How did they call that ? Wire-play ?”

  
  


RK’s LED was back on yellow when he made his researches in his head.

  
  


“You want to do that,” he stated with a flat tone.

“If you want to- I mean, if you are fine having my hands in- Uh…”

“Would that please you ?”

  
  


Gavin groaned. One of the worst thing about RK was how selfless he was. Always putting Gavin’s needs first, before his own. It wasn’t healthy at all.

  
  


“Would that please  _ you _ ?” Gavin stressed. It made RK’s LED blink yellow again.

“Yes.”

  
  


RK rarely whispered. It was a thing he only did in the bullpen, when Gavin refused to move from his chair to go somewhere a bit less crowded. Usually RK simply waited to be alone with Gavin if he needed to say something to him in secret.

Except right now they were all alone, and RK never ever whispered in that context.

  
  


“Alright, let’s do that then,” Gavin concluded, deciding not to question RK’s tone any further.

“What can I do to please you ?”

  
  


Now, Gavin definitely blushed crimson. A wild picture of RK with his fingers up his ass had flashed in his mind. Hic cock had twitched in interest at that.

  
  


“You have ten fingers and a mouth. Use them,” Gavin grumbled under his breath.

  
  


RK caught it. LED yellow, then back to blue, and his eyes crinkled happily. He got his hands back from Gavin’s grip and put them on Gavin’s cheeks, getting closer.

  
  


“May I ?”

“Please…”

  
  


RK pressed his lips against Gavin, sweetly, chaste, agonizingly kind. Gavin’s right hand clutched at RK’s jacket, while the other tangled itself in RK’s hair, and he deepened the kiss, lapping at RK’s lips who was only too happy to oblige.

Analyzing fluids was still a weird taste on Gavin’s tongue, but he couldn’t say it wasn’t exciting him. Gavin loved it. Gavin loved the taste of his tongue, the texture, the hotness. Gavin fucking loved kissing RK. And one good thing was that RK couldn’t have chapped lips.

One bad thing was that Gavin still needed to breath, so every so often RK would back down for a bit, before Gavin would charge back down. The first time RK had almost suffocated him, and Gavin had had to punch him.

Gavin’s hand roamed on RK’s chest. They did a bit of groping before, a bit of exploration, nothing more. This time, Gavin was really serious about stripping the android down to his briefs and getting to see his  _ perfect _ body. He was not going to stop halfway. He could drink in the touches, the view, he could get excited.

_ Oh god, he was already excited. _

  
  
Gavin awoken the next day, cheek smashed against RK’s shoulder. He was feeling so relaxed, physically, emotionally, mentally. His mind was blank in a good way. He could hear the purring of RK’s thirium pump, and feel it against his chest. He smiled in the android’s shoulder.

  
  


“Good morning,” RK passed a hand in Gavin’s hair and brushed his nape.

“‘morn’...”

“You have a text from Elijah.”

  
  


Gavin grumbled and reached blindly for his phone on the bed table. It was RK who gave it to him.

  
  


“Are you alright ?”

“God, RK, you don’t need to ask me every five minutes,” Gavin rolled his eyes, not really minding RK’s concern.

RK stayed silent for a bit, but a tiny sweet smile decorated his lips. “Alright.” He was still going to  _ ask every two minutes _ .

  
  


Gavin leveled himself up so he was face to face with RK. He nuzzled the android’s nose a bit, and it was RK who closed the distance and placed a kiss on his lips.

  
  


“Thanks for yesterday,” RK said when they parted.

“What are you thanking me for, we didn’t even do your part ?” Gavin asked, puzzled.

  
  


They shouldn’t have started with Gavin, because he had the orgasm of his life and that used every single drop of energy he had left after the day, making him fall asleep almost immediately like some virgin teenager.

  
  


RK smiled as much as he could and stole another kiss. “You were wonderful. I couldn’t ask for more.”

“Dork,” Gavin snorted, and kissed RK again, just because he could. “Next time you’ll have the time of your life, I swear.”

  
  


He finally looked at his phone.

  
  


“ _ hope u had fun ;) ;) ;) _ ”

“THAT LITTLE PIECE OF SH-”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (let's be honest, Gavin would totally be fan of Brooklyn 99)
> 
>  
> 
> AAAAAAAAND THAT'S THE END FOLKS !!! (nooooo)  
> Thank you so much for staying until the end and giving kudos and commenting and bookmarking and everything !! Love you my dear readers ! <3<3<3 Reading your comments REALLY made my days.
> 
> Can't believe how hard I worked on this project. Like I said, it was my first finished fic ever (coz I have a bad habit of starting but never ending). I also had to do a d*mn calendar to keep in track what was happening between the characters until everything started to overlap and tabs ! Gotta do choices too (Hank dad or lover, Chloe friend or lover, Rk asshole or kind dork, who would win a fight between Eli and Gavin, etc). But in the end it turned out nice (i think) so I'm happy /o/
> 
>  
> 
> BUUUUUUT ! Here's the thing :   
> 1st I'm gonna start posting a little serie on Markus, Simon and North soon, because those three are bae and Markus shouldn't have to chose between the two of them. Give him both goddamnit !!  
> 2nd Since I apparently can't stop writing I'm doing little prompts about what happened between the trial and this epilogue (because I really like Gavin and Rk's issues and I'd like to develop them a bit). Going to be short stuff with a different kind of writing because... bah, I have school and I need to work on my last year project ! But I still started something. By the end of Sim/Mar/Nor serie I should have finished it and I will post it.  
> (watch the teasing haha !!)
> 
>  
> 
> Gotta end with that : I'm always open to chat and stuff ! Got a tumblr but I don't do much on it (I just watch other posts) but I'm active on Insta so if you wanna chat or stuff : https://www.instagram.com/mellosdrawings/


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